25 September 2021
Saturday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time
“I will be the glory in her midst.” (Zec 2:9)
So insistent was the Lord to have the returning exiles know about His burning desire to dwell among them that he sent a second prophet, Zechariah, to proclaim:
Sing and rejoice, O daughter Zion!
See, I am coming to dwell among you, says the LORD.
Many nations shall join themselves to the LORD on that day,
and they shall be My people and I will dwell among you. (Zec 2:14-15)
Again, the returned exiles are urged not to delay their joy, but to realize swiftly how much the Lord wants to dwell among them. And not only among them, but through bringing many nations to them and by inviting those nations (ie people like you and me) into His covenant (“[they] shall join themselves to the LORD…they shall be My people”), the Lord will dwell among a people far more numerous than imagined before.
We see this covenant established in the Passion, about which Jesus speaks to the disciples. (Lk 9:44) Yet, the depths of this mystery have not yet been sounded by our understanding, just as the disciples did not understand what Jesus said. (Lk 9:45) The Cross is often misunderstood, and yet, by continuing to listen to Jesus speak about it as He does to the disciples in today’s gospel, little by little we can open up to the consolations the Lord offers us in His Passion. Again to see that the Lord does not delay dwelling with us until we are full of joy. Rather, the Lord chooses to dwell with us immediately, even in pain and suffering and humble sorrow. Let us pray as the Church sings on Holy Thursday: “We should glory in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, in whom is our salvation, life and resurrection, through whom we are saved and delivered!”