733 James I. Harrison Jr. Parkway East - Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35405

Browsing Father Michael Deering's Sunday Homilies

God has built a house for you!

God has built a house for you!

 

I’ll bet there’ve been times in your life where you wanted to do something nice for someone ... and they turned it around on you ... and did something nice for you!

 

I recall the time last year where I took 4 couples out to a nice restaurant as a sign of my appreciation for all their help to me in getting moved into the Church Rectory.

 

Well, when I asked for the check at the end of the meal, the waitress advised ...

that it had already been taken care of ... by one of the couples in my party!

 

Wow! What a surprise. My goal was to provide a nice meal for them ...

and they went and  provided a nice meal for me. How sweet. How generous.

 

I desired to provide a kindness to them ... but they turned it around ...

and actually provided a kindness to me.

 

We hear of a situation such as this in our First Reading where mighty King David gets the idea of building a nice house for God … to have a worthy place in which to store his word … the 10 Commandments that God had written on Stone Tablets.

 

And no sooner does David share this intention with his priest Nathan, that God comes back through Nathan saying … no … He would build a house for David!

 

God asks, “Should you build me a house to dwell in?”

And then replies, “(No … I) will establish a house for you.”

 

Imagine how surprised David had to be … that God would build a house for him!

 

You know, I’m sure that David was only thinking of God’s house being a physical structure … when in reality … God had that … and much more in mind!

 

We know that it was David’s son, Solomon, who ended up building ...

the magnificent Temple of Jerusalem ... the physical structure ...

that was a worthy house for God’s written word.

 

But we also know that … 1000 years after David …

God created the woman, Mary, who for 9 months would be

the worthy house for Baby Jesus ....God’s “Word made flesh”!

 

Luke refers to this wondrous event in our Gospel today, with Angel Gabriel saying to Mary, “Behold you will conceive in your womb and bear a son,

and you shall name him Jesus.  

To which Mary replies, “May it be done to me according to your word.”

 

 

This same Gospel is proclaimed each year on March 25th … 9 mos. before Dec. 25 … when we celebrate Mary conceiving Jesus in her womb by the Holy Spirit

 

So, this Holy Season of Advent corresponds with the last 4 weeks of Mary’s pregnancy with Jesus!           You  Mothers can certainly relate to that time.

 

How exciting this had to be for Mary …

How extraordinary this would be for the world!

 

What was God doing?

God was preparing to build the house that He promised to David!

 

And He was doing it from the lineage of David.

 

Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, foretold this  ...

the moment he reclaimed his speech after being mute for the 9 months

of his wife Elizabeth’s  pregnancy with John the Baptist, saying:

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel;

He has come to his people and set them free.

He has raised up for us a mighty savior,

Born of the house of his servant David.

 

This House God was building … was not a structure … but a worldwide body of believers ... who would soon come together to worship God in Spirit and in Truth.

 

No longer would men go to the Temple in Jerusalem to worship God …

No, soon they would go to the Church ... with locations all over the world ...

to worship God the Father ... through, with and in His Son ... Jesus.

 

God foretells this in our First Reading from 2nd Samuel, saying:

“I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me.”

 

That’s exactly who God would raise up as heir to David’s throne …

a son … God’s very own Son … God’s only Begotten Son!

 

David had no way to conceive that God was a Trinity of Father, Son and Spirit.

 

But what God said ... was true … then and now.

 

It was through His Son that God chose to reveal Himself to us as Trinity.

 

St. Paul speaks of this in our Second Reading from Romans, saying,

Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret for long ages …

but … (now) made known to all nations.”

 

Jesus came to us as a baby ... and grew into a man …

 and clearly revealed to us that He is God …

that He is mysteriously and eternally united with

God the Father … in union with ... God the Holy Spirit.

 

Those who believe this truth and are baptized ...

become the mystical body of Christ on earth ...

with the birthright to dwell with God in his Heavenly Kingdom.

 

God announced this to King David in our First Reading saying through Nathan:

 “I will raise up your heir after you … and I will make his kingdom firm.

Your house and your kingdom shall endure forever before me;

your throne shall stand firm forever.”

 

What throne do you know of that endures forever?

Was it the throne of David?  No!       Was it the throne of Solomon? No!

 

There’s only one throne that endures forever … the throne of Jesus!

 

As Paul said today in our Second Reading from Romans,

“To the only wise God, through Jesus Christ be glory forever and ever. Amen.”

 

God chose Mary to be the temporary house for His Divine Son.

 

As a good Jewish girl, Mary knew the promise that God had made to King David.

So the words of Angel Gabriel proclaimed today had to fill her with great joy

to know that the time for the coming of the Savior was so near.

 

Notice how Gabriel referred to God’s past promise to David in saying to Mary,

“Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son … and the Lord God will give Him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

 

Mary’s answer to God’s invitation was yes!

And she conceived the Son of God by the Holy Spirit.

 

Mary saidyes” to God. And look at what her yes did!

Jesus came & built His Earthly House, the Church ...

on the Rock foundation of Peter.

And then Jesus opened the gates of Heaven ... so that all who love Him ...

could enter His Father’s House.

 

As we prepare for the Great Day of Christmas,

let’s contemplate how God turned the kind offer of David around on him!

 

Instead of David building a house for God …

God built a house for David … and for all of us!

 

He actually built us a temporary house on earth ...  the Church ...

And a permanent house in Heaven ... the new Jerusalem.

 

Let’s recognize how much we are loved by God

and accept His kindness with great joy ...

that He would provide us with a Holy House here on earth

to sustain us until we enter an Eternal House in Heaven.

 

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