Memorial of Saint John of the Cross, Priest and Doctor of the Church

 Lectionary: 188

Thus says the LORD:
Woe to the city, rebellious and polluted,
    to the tyrannical city!
She hears no voice,
    accepts no correction;
In the LORD she has not trusted,
    to her God she has not drawn near.

By the time the Gospel of Saint Matthew was written, a Roman army had already destroyed Jerusalem and razed its temple. Saint Matthew saw the catastrophe as a fulfillment of Zephaniah's prophecy, and his nativity story offered a reason for it: The magi had caused quite a sensation in the Holy City. The city was dark, and the guiding star could not be seen from within its walls. Their arrival and their queries about a "new born king of the Jews" disturbed King Herod. And when Herod was upset, everyone was upset. The people knew nothing of an unusual baby; and the more judicious might have supposed, "This is a bad time for any child to be born, much less the Messiah of the Lord!"

The star only reappeared when they departed for Jerusalem on what might have seemed a wild goose chase. But then, with extraordinary precision, it brought the seekers to the very house where the child was found with his mother. 

Like the star, God's covenant had migrated while remaining intact. No longer shining on the geographical hill of Zion, the New Jerusalem is the Church. More precisely, it is, "the child with Mary his mother." And, as Zephaniah had predicted, she is humble and lowly, doing no wrong and speaking no lies. Nor is her silent husband a braggart in her presence. 

They are the remnant, like the few who survived in Noah's Ark, who carry the promise: 

For then I will change and purify

    the lips of the peoples,

That they all may call upon the name of the LORD,

    to serve him with one accord...

Because they take refuge in the name of the Lord, they receive the magi and their gifts:  

...from beyond the rivers of Ethiopia

    and as far as the recesses of the North,

    they shall bring me offerings.

John the Baptist warned the Pharisees that the Lord can raise up children of Abraham from these very stones; and Jesus said the stones of the city would cry out a welcome to the Lord. No one should suppose that their particular city or nation should survive until the end of time. Salvation History teaches bitter lessons as it makes sweet promises. 

Advent insists that we cling to the Lord through these days of preparation. Like the merchant who sells everything to buy a single pearl of great price, we must prepare to jettison every treasured assurance. Sojourners like Joseph and Mary, with no abiding place, we travel in obscurity and anonymity, en route to the Holy City.