Monday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time

Today's Scripture

For many of us, the name “Jerusalem” simply brings thoughts of international conflict – religious conflict – and a major political debate. So maybe it shouldn’t surprise us to know that conflict over Jerusalem is nothing new. For the prophet Zechariah’s audience, Jerusalem was more than just a city. It was a symbol of what they had lost. In this 26th week of counting the time that we have committed ourselves to Jesus, we hear Zechariah’s words of comfort. For Jerusalem was also a symbol of hope. Over the past weeks we have heard first, the warnings of Ezekiel and Jeremiah, and after that the words of the prophet Haggai, who wrote during the same time as Zechariah. That time period was a time of exile.

Despite the warnings of other prophets, the people of Jerusalem continued to neglect their relationship with God. They allowed all that was spiritual about Jerusalem to fall into ruins. Jerusalem was meant to be a place where the people dwelt with God, where they talked to God, where they worshiped God, where they sacrificed to God, where they acted with love toward others out of love for God. In allowing this holy place to become spiritually desecrated, the people met with the physical consequence of their city falling captive to outsiders. They became both physically and spiritually isolated from Jerusalem, whether exiled in a foreign land or forced to live in a place where they had no say in its governance. 
We could end here and say that at least their suffering was deserved. This was not a case of bad things happening to good people. They should have known that neglecting their relationship with God would have dire consequences. 

But of course, we know that we also often fail. We might thank God that Ezekiel and Jeremiah are not addressing the nation of the United States of America today because we probably wouldn’t want to hear what they have to say about us as a nation. In any event, today’s message is a message of hope. Zechariah wants the people to hear that God loves them and longs for them. God delights in them and wants the holy city of Jerusalem to be revived. After their sins, this is God calling them back, promising that they can once more dwell within Jerusalem, renewing their relationship with Him.
 
We in the Church continue to view the city of Jerusalem as a symbol of hope. We long for our “heavenly Jerusalem,” the Kingdom of God. In our humility, we may realize that we do not deserve to dwell within Jerusalem. We have not suitably glorified the Kingdom of God with our worship and with our actions. And yet God still promises that He will be our God, and we will be his people. What does it take for God still to welcome us back?
 
It takes humility: the realization that we are NOT God. We are also not in competition with everyone around us. Rather we’re on the same team. We all want to be in Jerusalem together. Today’s gospel reading is a classic one on humility. Children are never completely faultless, but they do have a sort of natural innocence and humility. They know that they are not the ones running the show. They don’t always understand what is happening. They are absolutely dependent on the goodness of others.
 
Jesus’ comment that the least is the greatest is a great reminder for us. We can’t win our way to heaven by knocking out everyone who is in the way, and there are no trophies or medals given for humility. The beginning of humility is the recognition that we sin and yet God still always calls us back to Jerusalem, promising to be our God. Today, let us take some time to meditate on the words of Zechariah, imagining that God is speaking to us and inviting us to our true home with Him in Jerusalem.
 
Maria Morrow