“Rejoice, O Jerusalem,” is the entrance antiphon for this Sunday’s liturgy. The day is sometimes called Laetare Sunday,
“laetare” meaning “rejoice.” During our journey through Lent the celebration for this Sunday calls for the priest and deacon to wear rose-colored vestments. The liturgy reminds us that as we journey through Lent we have great reason to rejoice for the Lord loves us, and through his passion, death and resurrection frees us from sin and death.
The first reading from Second Chronicles first recalls the situation in Israel that led to the Babylonian exile. “Infidelity” was added to “infidelity.” Prophets were sent and ignored. The Lord’s Temple was profaned. Then the Babylonians came, conquered and destroyed the country. The Temple of the Lord was desecrated and destroyed as was the holy city of Jerusalem. The peoples were exiled as captives and taken to the faraway lands of Mesopotamia (present day Iraq).
The Temple in Jerusalem was first built by King Solomon in the 10th century before Christ. The Temple held the Ark of the Covenant in its inner most spot called the Holy of Holies. God was worshiped in the Temple every day. During the year various sacrifices and offerings were made to God in the Temple.
Once a year the high priest would enter the Holy of Holies to make a special atonement offering for the forgiveness of sins; this day was observed as the Day of Atonement.
In 587 BC the Babylonians captured Jerusalem and destroyed the Temple. It was rebuilt sometime after the exile in Babylon which lasted approximately 50 years. Herod greatly expanded the area surrounding the Temple (this is the area that one sees today when visiting Jerusalem; the Temple itself being destroyed by the Romans in 135 AD). The Israelites viewed the Temple as God’s dwelling place on earth it was the “house of God.”
Msgr. Joseph Prior unpacks the image of a journey to describe our 40 days in Lent. The journey helps us renew our hope, strengthen our faith and bolster our love, in a desert state of mind.
We might want to experience healing especially from the anxiety of COVID on our terms, but God invites us to encounter him through his kingdom and remember his saving action, writes Msgr. Joseph Prior.