Built for Sacrifice

Learning the plans and purposes of Temples

09/25/2017

Ezra 1:1-6 In the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah, the LORD inspired King Cyrus of Persia to issue this proclamation throughout his kingdom, both by word of mouth and in writing: "Thus says Cyrus, king of Persia: 'All the kingdoms of the earth the LORD, the God of heaven, has given to me, and he has also charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Therefore, whoever among you belongs to any part of his people, let him go up, and may his God be with him! Let everyone who has survived, in whatever place he may have dwelt, be assisted by the people of that place with silver, gold, goods, and cattle, together with free-will offerings for the house of God in Jerusalem.'"

             Temples are built for sacrifice. Not only are they built for sacrifice to God, where man can offer fitting worship and praise to his Creator, but they are also built by the sacrifices of the people, sometimes at the cost of their own life. Today, I want to recount the story of two temples: one in the far-away land of Jerusalem, which only has one wall standing, the Western Wall or Wailing Wall, and the second in the very near land of Fort Smith, the temple you’re sitting in right now. Their stories are strikingly similar.

             The temple in Jerusalem went through three iterations, or versions. First it was a humble tent carried through the desert by Moses. Second, it was given a permanent home in Jerusalem by King Solomon. And third, it was destroyed by the Babylonians and rebuilt by King Cyrus in 538 B.C. Immaculate Conception church also went through three iterations or versions. First a modest log cabin served for the sacred sacrifice of the Mass. Second, Fr. Laurence Symth built the white framed church at the head of the Avenue. That temple was destroyed not by Babylonians but by the tornado of January 11, 1898. And the third temple was built and dedicated on June 1, 1899.

            These two temples were not only built for sacred sacrifices, but they were built by the sacrifices of the people. In the first reading from Ezra, we read: “Thus says Cyrus, King of Persia, ‘The Lord, the God of heaven has charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem. Let everyone who has survived, in whatever place he may have dwelt, be assisted by the people of that place with silver, gold, goods, cattle together with free-will offerings for the house of God in Jerusalem’.” Back home, after the tornado, Fr. Smyth called a meeting of his parishioners a month after the tornado to build a new church on the site of the white framed church. At the meeting a unanimous decision was reached to raise $25,000 which would be matched by Bishop Fitzgerald. The congregation raised over $30,500. Temples are not only built for sacrifice, they are built by sacrifice.

             Why do we built temples in the first place? Well, to put the matter simply, temples consecrate creation in both time and space. Scott Hahn insightfully remarked: “The temple is in space what the Sabbath is in time.” In other words, just like we carve out one day dedicated to God from the seven days of the week, so we carve out a portion of our city as a sacred space dedicated to God. Try to think about how special Sunday is to every week – not just to watch football – and you’ll sense how special a temple is to space because it serves the same purpose: to separate and to sanctify for the sake of sacrifice. We create a special time (in the week) and a sacred space (with a temple) to turn to God, so that in that same sacred time and space God will turn to us and recreate us.

            Let me leave you with the lines of Msgr. John O’Donnell who had the pleasure to commemorate the 150 year anniversary of our parish. The son of St. Patrick wrote: “These gallant and intrepid clergy, religious and laity who cut a wide path through this region and tamed the manners and morals of a people newly arrived on the frontier. With awesome courage, perseverance, and sacrifice, they built a veritable fortress of Faith and Catholicity and in a time when the faithful were less than welcome and looked upon with disdain.” He went on: “All the foregoing simply means that we shall emulate the example of our fore-bearers and broaden our shoulders with continuing the works of Grace, Peace and Service to the end that our children’s children will look back and bless our memory and works.”

             Why are temples built for sacrifice and by sacrifice? Simple: so we can imitate what we celebrate in the Temple.

Praised be Jesus Christ!