When the Homily is about Immunology

The Entrance of the Most Holy Theotokos

Today is one of the seven great feastdays associated with the Theotokos. According to Tradition the Theotokos was brought as a very young child to be raised among the virgins dedicated to the service of the Lord until they were to be betrothed in marriage. Her entrance into the Holy Place would be a time of consecration for she herself would become the "'holy of holies' of God, the living sanctuary, and the temple of the Divine child who was to be born in her."

Mary becomes the proto-type of the Church and of all Christians and we see in this feast the beginning of the New Testament era - the Virgin enters the Temple of God in order to set in motion the great change in which she herself (an indeed ultimately all of us) becomes the Temple of God. The Theotokos will literally and physically fulfill the prophecies in which God will take leave of the Temple and dwell instead in the human person.

The story of Mary's birth and life is related to us in the The Protoevangelium of James which was written down in about 150AD and although not directly authored by my patron St. James (as is claimed by the work itself - a strange but common practice of the time) may have certainly been based on older oral tradition originating from him. The work did not become apart of the canon of Holy Scripture (obviously) but it was widely revered, accepted, and copied in the early Church. And in fact, it was included in more than one early list of authoritive books.

With all of this being the case, a few years ago I began to to realize that the people of the early church had a much different perspective on the Virgin than I did. My view had always been that she was just like me (God forbid!) and that there was nothing special about her - indeed nothing special about any of the "SAINTS." After all, aren't we all Saints? Well, to use a rather base analogy: we might all be NBA players, but we ain't all Micheal Jordan's, are we?

Who am I, with all my protestant american cultural baggage intact, to look back at the ancients and stand in judgement? No...may it never be so...let those who were discipled by the Disciples stand and judge us. Let the living continuity of the original community which today continues to celebrate this blessed feast day stand in judgement of my arrogance and ignorance.

Troparion
Today is the preview of the good will of God,
of the preaching of the salvation of mankind.
The Virgin appears in the temple of God,
in anticipation proclaiming Christ to all.
Let us rejoice and sing to her:
Rejoice, 0 Divine Fulfillment of the Creator's dispensation.

Kontakion
The most pure Temple of the Saviour,
the precious Chamber and Virgin,
the Sacred Treasure of the Glory of God,
is presented today to the house of the Lord.
She brings with her the grace of the Spirit,
which the angels of God do praise.
Truly this woman is the Abode of Heaven!