Exiit qui seminat

All throughout Sacred Scripture, we often read and hear about the concept of "going up to Jerusalem". It is more than just the fact that Jerusalem is almost 2,500 feet above sea level. No matter where you are coming from, north or south, one ALWAYS goes up to Jerusalem. For Jeruaslem is a place of spiritual ascent - designated as the City of the Lord, the City of David, the place where David's line will rule over Israel forever. It is the home of the Temple where the Ark of the Covenant resides and where God is properly worshipped and praised. Jerusalem is where the community of those who rightly praise God is assembled. The concept of "going up" to the heavenly Jerusalem is where what humanity was meant to be by God is realized and the place where disordered and fallen humanity is restored. In the Book of Psalms, Psalms 120-134 are considered the Songs of Ascents, hymns sung and prayed by pilgrims as they ascended the road to Jerusalem for the various feasts. In contrast, going down from Jerusalem is never usually a good thing. It was indication that a person was turning away from God. All we have to do is look to the parable of the Good Samaritan and the man who fell among thieves after he "down from Jerusalem to Jericho" (Luke 10:30) and the two disciples on the Road to Emmaus, fleeing the events of Jesus' Passion, Death and Resurrection in Jerusalem. However, this is NOT the case in the reading from the Acts of the Apostles this Sunday, where we see Peter and John "go down" from Jerusalem. Their purpose is to go down to Samaria, a place synonymous with faithlessness and betrayal, to pray for the Samaritans and give them the gift of the Holy Spirit. For instead of rejecting the Lord as their ancestors did, the people of Samaria accepted the Christ proclaimed by Philip and were baptized by him. As Catholic Christians, we long for the new and eternal Jerusalem. Let our words echo those of the Psalmist and cry out to God with joy, proclaiming Christ by what we say and do and sharing the great joy of the Resurrected Lord to our community and to the world!

Fr. Rob Sinatra