Holy Places are essential

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today mark the commemoration of believers of Sacred Locations where communion with the Divine is experienced. The First Book of Maccabees details the cleansing and dedication of the Temple after the Macabeen rebels had recovered it from the armies of Antiochus Epiphanes. The celebration of this rededication is today known as Hanukkah. The passage from First Chronicles presents the praise for God which overwhelms David. This intimate connection with God is the experience of many. It may be in the Holy Place where nature reveals the sheer majesty and beauty of the Creator. It may be in the eyes of the infant looking out to the world with great expectation at his parent or grandparent. It may be that "still quiet voice" which whispers in the leaves by the water. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus is angered by those who have made the sacred space of the Holy City into a bizarre. The reverent atmosphere which Holy Ground requires is absent. Our Christian understanding of our membership in the Body of Christ as "Temples of the Holy Spirit" is the meditation which needs to produce fruit of cleansing and rededication of our Holy Space. We have to seek the experience of David as we encounter the Presence of the Creator in all people.