The feast of the Dedication was taking place in Jerusalem. It was winter. And Jesus walked about in the temple areas 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 so." 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."
The Gospel of the Lord.
Winter's Feast of Dedication is Hanukkah (also called the Feast of Lights); it commemorates the rededication of the Temple in 165 B.C. by Judas Maccabee.
In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God. He was in the beginning with God and He was God. Everything came into being through Him and what came into being was life. The life was the light of the world. And the light shone in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it.
God is eternal. Our souls are the creation of God; His Spirit has been breathed into us. Our souls, and hence we, are eternal. In the words of Jesus today, "My sheep hear my voice; I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish." In the server's words as he mingles the water and wine in the chalice: By the mingling of this water and wine we share in your divinity as you share in our humanity.
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