A Holy House

(Feast of Christ the King: Daniel 7:13-14; Revelation 1:5-8; John 18:33-37)

“Holiness befits your house, O Lord, for length of days,” declares the psalmist. This statement of fact is also a commitment to preserve the holiness of God’s house, especially if we take ‘house’ in the sense of ‘household.’

This calls for integrity, the striving to be what we know we are meant to be as Christians. In Revelation Jesus is called “the faithful witness,” and that is how we see him before Pilate. He declares: “For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth.” A true disciple of Christ does the same.

When Our Lady told Mélanie and Maximin to make her message known to “all my people,” they became faithful witnesses. No one was excluded; the children went, as it were, to many nooks and crannies, and spoke to all who would listen.

The truth to which they witnessed was specific, limited to what they had seen and heard in the hills above the village of La Salette: ruined crops, the people’s infidelity, lack of respect for the things of God, as well as the all-important fact that conversion is always possible. The light of faith can enter through the tiniest opening of the heart or mind.

In Daniel’s vision, “The one like a Son of man received dominion, glory, and kingship; all peoples, nations, and languages serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion.” 

Mary uses the image of the Arm of her Son as an expression of his dominion, but other parts of her message echo Revelation’s words about Jesus, “who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, who has made us into a kingdom, priests for his God and Father.” He is Alpha and Omega, beginning and end, seeking out in every time and place those who belong to the truth and hear his voice.

Accepting his dominion is an act of submission—not groveling, but in genuine humility, seeking the remedy to the ills we have brought upon ourselves. He is eager to bless us with peace and make us holy. 

The Beautiful Lady seeks to draw us more completely into the household of God, so that her people can become ever more truly God’s holy People. For holiness befits his house for length of days.