The Sanctity of Catholic churches. The Israelites had only one Temple: we have many churches. Although the Temple at Jerusalem was exceptionally beautiful and costly, the poorest Catholic chapel is far holier and richer, because in our churches the holy Sacraments are dispensed, and because, above all other reasons, our Lord Jesus Christ, with His Divinity and Humanity, is there present and, in the Mass, offers Himself for us to His Heavenly Father. As St. Chrysostom beautifully says: “If we could open the heaven of heavens, we should find nothing greater or more holy than that which reposes on our altars.1' We ought to have the utmost veneration for our churches, and visit them diligently and devoutly. King Solomon threw himself on his knees in the outer court of the Temple and raised his arms to God in prayer; and shall we be ashamed to kneel down before the Blessed Sacrament and devoutly clasp our hands?
The Consecration of churches. Our churches are solemnly consecrated. Thereby they are sanctified to be the property and dwellingplace of God and the abode of grace. In memory of its consecration or dedication, and as a thanksgiving for the benefits it has brought to us, it is usual to keep every year the feast of the dedication of a church. On that anniversary we have more cause than had the Israelites to say: “Praise the Lord, for He is good, and His mercy endureth for ever.”
The Presence of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. God was present to the Israelites in a visible cloud in the Temple; and therefore the Temple was in very deed “a dwelling-place of God among men”. Now, after God had become Man, would He have removed Himself further from us than He was from the Israelites? Are we to have no dwelling-place of God in our midst? Is nothing to be left to us Christians but the bare memory of God made Man? No! It would be inconceivable that God, after His Incarnation, should be less approachable than He was before it! Jesus Christ would not leave us orphans; therefore He has remained with us, being present on our altars under the visible appearances of bread and wine in the Blessed Sacrament. There He is in the Tabernacle, His Eyes and His Heart beholding those who come to adore Him. If Jesus were not present in the Most Holy Sacrament, then those who lived under the Old Testament would have been better off than we who are living under the New Testament, and we should, perforce, envy the Israelites with whom God was present in at least one Temple.
Application. Visit your Divine Saviour present in the church. Visit Him this very day. Pray to Him with devotion and faith, and thank Him for the love which makes Him dwell with us, offer Himself up for us, and give Himself to us as the food of our souls.
