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Ezekiel 41:6 "And the side chambers were in three stories, one over another, thirty in each story. There were offsets all around the wall of the temple to serve as supports for the side chambers, so that they should not be supported by the wall of the temple."

 

All parts of the temple in Ezekiel's vision are important, obviously, or the angel would not have shown them to him. The side chambers surround the temple. They are three stories tall, with thirty chambers in each story. In other words, they are huge, so huge that the wall of the temple, which is six cubits thick (Ezekiel 41:5), cannot support them, and they rest on offsets that surround the temple wall. For all of this, though, they are merely the side chambers, they are not the "main attraction".

 

As the conclave begins, I am thinking today of the Church as the temple, and of the cardinals as the side chambers. They have a vitally important role, to choose our next pope. They know as well as anyone the immensity of their task, but they also know they are not the "main attraction." Further, they cannot do this alone, they require the prayerful support of the entire Church.

 

The temple Ezekiel was shown, and the Church, are not meant to just exist for people to come and go from them as they please, with detached interest, and perhaps admiration for the architecture, but without any commitment or support. People who are watching what is happening in Rome but who are not Catholic may be doing that, but we cannot. We are an important part of the Church's structure, we are the offsets. If we just let the cardinals and the hierarchy do their jobs without our support, the walls of the Church would crumble, unable to hold the weight.

 

So let's continue to pray faithfully for the Church,  the cardinals, all of our priests and bishops, and our new pope, whoever he may be. They are working for the good of the Church, but we must do so as well. They need our participation, not just our occasional attention.