Optional memorial of Blessed Fr. Miguel Pro

A continuation of my New Jerusalem concept.  Click on the image to go to a song written and sung by Carly Simon about the New Jerusalem.

A Reflection on the Significance of September Eleventh

Eighteen years ago a sign appeared in the history of mankind that was seen by people around the world. Two jet planes, symbols of human technological achievement, were flown into two sky-scraper buildings, symbols of human architectural triumph and economic progress. The planes were flown by men who became symbols of the one thing that has always been with humans since Cain struck Abel, the depravity of heart.

The sign that appeared was a sign about Vigilance, Preparation, and Charity. As a nation, we saw in the smoke and flames of those two burning buildings, and their subsequent collapse to the ground, that we had become careless and assuming. We had forgotten being Vigilant and Prepared are virtues. But in this calamity Charity was not forgotten. In the midst of fire and death, strangers, human beings, came together to help each other. And most importantly, the words of our Lord were witnessed by not just one nation but by all the nations in the world:

“This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you.”
(John 13:12-14, NASB)

On that day, September 11, 2001, First Responders--human beings who dedicate their lives to the safety and order of other human beings...the people who make society possible: law enforcement officers, fire-fighters, emergency medical services technicians, medical professionals...sacrificed themselves that day for the good of their “friends”. For on that day, for at least a little while, we all became friends to one another. There were no strangers among us.

On that day, there were First Responders who died in their effort to help others. But in the days and years to come, there would be others who died, physically, or mentally, and continue to die, from the effects of that Day of the Sign.

In the Gospel of Luke, Our Lord talks about a tragic day that everyone in Jerusalem knew about--when the tower of Siloam fell, killing eighteen people. Although the details of why the tower of Siloam fell are not known, Our Lord presents the falling of the tower as an evil, for it killed people who were no less good than the others who survived, witnessed, or heard about, the tower’s collapse:

“Or those eighteen people who were killed when the tower at Siloam fell on them — do you think they were more guilty than everyone else who lived in Jerusalem? By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!”
(Luke 13:4-5)

The collapse of the tower of Siloam was an evil in itself, but the death of those killed by the tower’s collapse was not an indication of an evil life. Instead, Our Lord points out that their death is a call to repentance. For the sake of their souls, they were not prepared or vigilant. But for their sake, Our Lord overcame their lack of vigilance and preparation when he offered himself as a sacrifice.

Perhaps this is the ultimate reality of the Sign of “9/11”--Repentance and Mercy. Not because we, as individuals or as a nation, have led a life of evil, but only because for the sake of our souls we must be vigilant and prepared for the “day of reckoning”.

When we carry out our duties to protect and serve, to defend and maintain the order and good of society, let it be done as an act of Charity and Mercy. Let others see that the depravity of Cain’s heart is conquered by the love of Our Lord, Jesus the Christ. That when you first respond, others see first in you the Christian heart.

“Do Not waver at the solitude of the desert; it is during your sojourn in the tents that you will receive the manna from heaven and eat the bread of angels.”--Origen

+M.A.S.

May the angels lead you into paradise;

may the martyrs come to welcome you

and take you into the holy city, the new and eternal Jerusalem.

May choirs of angels welcome you

and lead you to the bosom of Abraham;

and where Lazarus is poor no longer may you find eternal rest.

May saints and angels lead you on,

Escorting you where Christ has gone.

Now he has called you, come to him who sits above the seraphim.

Come to the peace of Abraham

And to the supper of the Lamb:

Come to the glory of the blessed, And to perpetual light and rest.

Before we contemplate the reality of the New Jerusalem, we must understand the significance of Jerusalem, and its destiny, prior to the Incarnation.

Jerusalem became the royal city of David after he defeated the Jebusites and took the city from them. David built a palace there from which to rule the nation of Israel, and his son, Solomon, built a temple so that the Israelite nation could worship God.

Jerusalem became a city of governance and worship. A city that symbolized national and spiritual unity.  Jerusalem became the fulfillment of the children of the Exodus.  The realization of the promise given to those who had left Egypt.

But the earthly Jerusalem was imperfect in unity, fulfillment, and realization.  Although the One True God had revealed himself to Israel, and gave them His law, and decreed that a dwelling be built for Him, the Israelites continued to worship other gods, follow their own laws, and instead of being united they fought with each other.  Until, eventually, the earthly Jerusalem came to represent division and false worship.

During that brief time, under the reigns of kings David and Solomon, Jerusalem had represented the crowning achievement of Israelite glory--a city that equaled or surpassed the cities of other nations.  And it was that moment of glory, those 80 years under David and Solomon, the people of Judah remembered and made the center of their identity after they were taken captive by the Assyrian-Babylonian empire.  The memory of Jerusalem became a hope--the feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.  Salvation.

PSALM 122

I rejoiced when they said to me,

“Let us go to the house of the LORD.”

And now our feet are standing

within your gates, Jerusalem.

Jerusalem, built as a city,

walled round about.

There the tribes go up,

the tribes of the LORD,

As it was decreed for Israel,

to give thanks to the name of the LORD.

There are the thrones of justice,

the thrones of the house of David.

For the peace of Jerusalem pray:

May those who love you prosper!

May peace be within your ramparts,

prosperity within your towers.”

For the sake of my brothers and friends I say,

“Peace be with you.”

For the sake of the house of the LORD, our God,

I pray for your good.

"And I John saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband."

Mural of the New Jerusalem Diocese of Phoenix

I hope this is the beginning of a project that will grow and produce spiritual fruit.  The idea of this project is to consider the reality of the "New Jerusalem" and the possibility of casting a reflection or icon of the New Jerusalem in the present world.

Why is the reality of the New Jerusalem important?

When Christ came into the world he came to save us, not individually but as a people. As a community.  In the Nicene Creed we read: For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven,...For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states in paragraph 166:

• Faith is a personal act - the free response of the human person to the initiative of God who reveals himself. But faith is not an isolated act. No one can believe alone, just as no one can live alone. You have not given yourself faith as you have not given yourself life. The believer has received faith from others and should hand it on to others. Our love for Jesus and for our neighbor impels us to speak to others about our faith. Each believer is thus a link in the great chain of believers. I cannot believe without being carried by the faith of others, and by my faith I help support others in the faith.

Unfortunately, many sects within Protestantism have corrupted this understanding with their overemphasis on Sola Scriptura.  Because the Bible is believed to be the sole authority of Faith in Protestantism, certain protestants believe that their possession of the Bible and their individual interpretation of it brings them to salvation.  Therefore in the Protestant Mind, salvation is for individuals--and that by their own declaration of being saved, they create a confederation of saved individuals..., but not a community of faithful.  That is why today their are thousands of sects proclaiming their own creeds.

But Christ did not come to save only Harry and not Larry.  He came to save all--For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life--Christ came to gather a people unto and into himself.  As St. Paul says in Galatians: For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

We also read in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 810:

• Hence the universal Church is seen to be 'a people brought into unity from the unity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Because Christ, in his salvific mission, created a community, then Christ, in his salvific mission must have created a place for this community to assemble and worship--to be.

THAT PLACE IS THE NEW JERUSALEM.