We are Jerusalems on parade
Jerusalem upgraded (in a genuine, revelatory sense) to our bodies as temples of the Holy Spirit
Jesus sent us each the Holy Spirit, where our bodies serve as living temples. The sacrifice has been made, and it will not be repeated. Now churches gather us to a treasured meal of Jesus’ body and blood in the consecration of bread and wine. We confess our sins to one another and repent, absolved from our sins by the ordained representatives of Jesus.
Memorial of Saint Jerome, Priest and Doctor of the Church
Zechariah 8:20-23
Luke 9:51-56
We have in our histories both literal and figurative homes. Our literal homes are the places where we were born, grew up, got married, raised a family, and, of course, will be our final resting place. For most of us, those may all be different locales.
I was born in Boise, Idaho, and raised in Idaho and Colorado for a few years before becoming an adult in California. For the past 50 years, following a short stint with Joanne after we were married in California, I’ve lived in Colorado.
My hometowns have been Boise, Coeur d’Alene, and Shoshone, Idaho; Los Alamitos, Westchester, and Inglewood, California; Colorado Springs, Manitou Springs, and Woodland Park, Colorado. There are other places, too.
The Church provides us with several connecting points in today’s readings, and they all point to a home we think of as Jewish — Jerusalem. It is, however, an iconic locus, a religious center for most of the world's major religions — Jewish, Muslim, and Christian peoples, the three primal Abrahamic faiths.
Today is also the memorial of St. Jerome, the 4th- and 5th-century scholar and theologian who translated the scriptures into Latin. He took the Old Testament collection of Jewish texts in the original Hebrew, forgoing the Greek translation done around 280 B.C.by 72 Jewish scholars. That Greek translation was necessary because few Jews spoke Hebrew after the building of the Second Temple. They knew Greek and Aramaic, instead. Jerome sought after the texts that the 72 used as sources.
Today’s reading from Zechariah was noted by St. Jerome in his second collection of commentaries on the biblical prophets. He traveled to Jerusalem and lived on the outskirts, landing in Jesus’ birthplace, Bethlehem, for 38 years of his scholarly life. His fascination with the historical center of Jerusalem led him from his home in Rome and his studies in Antioch.
Jerome said some controversial things (according to his day’s notions) about Jerusalem. “We must live not in Jerusalem which is now, but in the Jerusalem which is above.” — (Letter 14). He said, about pilgrimages to Jerusalem, that they are “Valuable but not necessary for salvation; spiritual life is more important.”
Jerusalem has long been a magnet for the Catholic and Christian world, drawing folks for two millennia. Zecharia’s words echo in the pilgrim’s ear: “Many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem and to implore the favor of the LORD.”
Zechariah’s prophecy is one for the ages, telegraphing the Pentecostal feast in the Temple of Jerusalem after Jesus’ Ascension: Thus says the LORD of hosts: In those days ten men of every nationality, speaking different tongues, shall take hold, yes, take hold of every Jew by the edge of his garment and say, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.”
To Americans, Jerusalem holds both that literal attraction, the region that birthed our Lord and crucified him, and its figurative grip on the bulk of the world’s religions. It’s the place where our Lord cleansed the Temple in preparation for his death, and predicted its violent demise 40 years later.
The figurative hold of Jerusalem also has a strong negative influence. The Samaritans, broken from the rule of Judah’s claim to Jerusalem during the split of the North and South in 900 BC, named Samaria their capital and built a replacement temple in the Northern Kingdom. Called Israel when the Assyrians conquered the North, the non-Jewish overlords adopted the Torah. They grasped its import but rejected Jerusalem’s centrality.
The Samaritans — which loosely compares to the split of Protestants from Catholicism — considered Jerusalem a fraudulent and disreputable center, a place conquered like themselves. Samaria adopted many aspects of Jewish culture and traditions, but merged them with their own polytheistic beliefs and practices. That’s why a thousand years later, we hear in Luke the disdain from Samaria’s people. “On the way, they entered a Samaritan village to prepare for his reception there, but they would not welcome him because the destination of his journey was Jerusalem.”
Catholics are taught that the Temple of Jerusalem, no longer a center of ancient animal sacrifices and contested by a litany of wars and shared ownership, has been upgraded (in a genuine, revelatory sense) to our bodies as temples of the Holy Spirit. In the Old Testament, the temple in Jerusalem was the heart of worship for the Israelites. This sacred space was where Jews encountered God. They offered sacrifices there and sought forgiveness.
Jesus sent us each the Holy Spirit, where our bodies serve as living temples. The sacrifice has been made, and it will not be repeated. Now churches gather us to a treasured meal of Jesus’ body and blood in the consecration of bread and wine. We confess our sins to one another and repent, absolved from our sins by the ordained representatives of Jesus. Jerusalem has morphed into a living body of priests, prophets, and kings, the Body of Christ.
The figurative importance of Jerusalem, however, remains tied to its physical location. St. Jerome is credited with promoting the notion of Jerusalem’s historical importance.
“Tradition has it that in this city, nay, more, on this very spot, Adam lived and died. The place where our Lord was crucified is called Calvary, because the skull of the primitive man was buried there. So it came to pass that the second Adam, that is the blood of Christ, as it dropped from the cross, washed away the sins of the buried protoplast, the first Adam.”
Jerome explained the place of Jerusalem in our Catholic teaching. “Everyone is judged unto the righteousness of God, not by which land he dwells in, but by the merits of his faith. True worshipers do not worship God in Jerusalem, nor on Mount Gerizim; “God is spirit,” Christ said, “and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth.” … Look, my brother, because you have not seen Jerusalem, and yet faith is lacking in nothing for you; because, living anywhere, you are with us. Be assured that whether you live here or elsewhere, the reward is equal for good works with the Lord.”
Each of our stories of birth, life, and ultimately where we die has an importance to our physical trajectory. As temple people, the residences of the Holy Spirit, we witness and testify to God’s presence in creation and His promise for the coming Kingdom. We cover the globe, authentic Jerusalems on parade.
As Psalms said today, “They shall note, when the peoples are enrolled: “This man was born there.” And all shall sing, in their festive dance: “My home is within you.”