Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Easter

“The feast of the Dedication was taking place in Jerusalem. It was winter. And Jesus walked about in the temple area on the Portico of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered them, “I told you and you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify to me. But you do not believe, because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one can take them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can take them out of the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.” -John 10:22-30

The Feast of Dedication, also called Hanukkah, occurs in the winter. Jesus went to Jerusalem to celebrate this feast with His disciples. Interestingly, this feast originates in the second book of Maccabees, which also strongly references the state of being we call Purgatory.

About 50 years after Christ Ascended, the Jews removed Maccabees from the Tanakh. The early Christians, the writers of the New Testament, kept the canon of Scripture that Jesus read and preached, and ever since, the Catholic Church has produced Bibles with those Scriptures intact. Luther removed both Maccabees and five others in the 1850s, and his actions still cause strife among God’s children.

I use a rule when speaking of my experiences; if I can’t tie them to Scripture, I don’t mention them to others. My experience in the Red Room seems to have been some form of purgative state, and by the grace of God, I can reference that experience to the same Scripture verses Jesus read Himself. Just as I speak of God holding our souls in His hand and never letting go, I can back this statement with the Word in John, Job, Isaiah, and throughout all of Scripture.

When we read Scripture, we must open our minds and ask questions. Simple questions lead to complex answers. When I read this verse, a small voice asked, What is the Feast of Dedication? And, like pulling on a loose thread, the answer unraveled before me.

He is risen! He is risen indeed. Hallelujah!

Saint George, pray for us.

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Jesus, I trust in you!