come and all the saints with Him. .. And the Lord shall be King over all the earth; in that day there shall be one Lord; and his name shall be one. . . . And all they that shall be left of all nations that came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to adore the King, the Lord of hosts." "1 "Give praise," says the prophet Sophonias, "O daughter of Sion: shout, O Israel: be glad and rejoice with all thy heart, O daughter of Jerusalem. The Lord hath taken away thy judgment, He hath turned away thy enemies: the King of Israel, the Lord is in the midst of thee, and thou shalt fear evil no more. In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear not to Sion, Let not thy hands be weakened. The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty, He will save, He will rejoice over thee with gladness; He will be silent in His love, He will rejoice over thee in praise." ? 3 The prophet Baruch, in the fourth chapter, thus addresses Jerusalem: "Look about thee, O Jerusalem, towards the east, and behold the joy that cometh to thee from God. For behold thy children come whom thou sentest away scattered, they come gathered together from the east even to the west, at the word of the Holy One, rejoicing for the honour of God." And again, in the fifth chapter: "Put off, O Jerusalem, the garment of thy mourning and affliction, and put on thy beauty and honour of that everlasting glory which thou hast from God. God will clothe thee with the double garment of justice, and will set a crown on thy head of everlasting honour. For God will show His brightness in thee, to every one under 2 Sopho. iii. 14—17. 3 Baruch iv. 36, 37. 1 Zach. xiv. heaven. For thy name shall be named to thee, by God for ever; the peace of justice and honour of piety. Arise, O Jerusalem, and stand on high : and look about thee towards the east, and behold thy children gathered together from the rising to the setting sun, by the word of the Holy One rejoicing in the remembrance of thee." 1 The holy Tobias, foreseeing the future glory of Jerusalem, thus addresses it in a transport of holy jubilation: "Jerusalem, city of God, the Lord hath chastised thee for the works of thy hands. Give glory to the Lord for thy good things, and bless the God eternal, that He may rebuild His tabernacle in thee, and may call back all the captives to thee, and thou mayest rejoice for ever and ever. Thou shalt shine with a glorious light; and all the ends of the earth shall worship thee. Nations from afar shall come to thee, and shall bring gifts, and shall adore the Lord in thee, and shall esteem thy land as holy. For they shall call upon the great name in thee. They shall be cursed that shall despise thee: and they shall be condemned that shall blaspheme thee; and blessed shall they be that shall build thee up. But thou shalt rejoice in thy children, because they shall all be blessed, and shall be gathered together to the Lord. Blessed are all they that love thee, and that rejoice in thy peace. My soul, bless thou the Lord, because the Lord our God hath delivered Jerusalem His city from all her troubles. Happy shall I be if there shall remain of my seed, to see the glory of Jerusalem." 2 1 Baruch v. 1-5. 2 The Church thus speaks in her office for Advent concerning the glory of Jerusalem:-Ecce veniet propheta magnus, et ipse renovabit Jerusalem, alleluja. (Domin. i. Ant. i. ad laudes.) Here, however, it must be observed, that it would be a great error to believe that at the time of the glory of Jerusalem, the old ceremonial law of Moses shall be restored again. For this law, which was but a shadow of the things to come, has been entirely fulfilled and made void by the establishment of the new law of grace, which shall last for ever; "for in Christ Jesus," as the Apostle St. Paul teaches, "neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith that worketh by charity." 1 And as it would be very erroneous to believe in the revival of the Mosaic law, so it would also be a great error to suppose that the temple of Solomon will be rebuilt, and that the old sacrifices will be offered on its altar. For as the stars are eclipsed and disappear at the rising of the sun, so the ancient sacrifices were made void and vanished away at the coming of Christ. Jerusalem will indeed be glorious for her temple and her sacrifice. But it will be a temple and a sacrifice infinitely superior to those of old; the majesty of God will not dwell in her temples only in a cloud, and figuratively; but truly and in reality. Her altars will not be sanctified by the blood of animals, but by the clean oblation of Jesus, as of a lamb unspotted and undefiled. Some perhaps may object Daniel's prophecy, "That the desolation shall continue fin Jerusalem] even to the consummation, and to the end." How And again :-Jerusalem, citò veniet salus tua: quare moerore consumeris? Namquid consiliarius non est tibi, quia innovavit te dolor? Salvabo te, et liberabo te; noli timere. Ego enim sum Dominus Deus tuus, sanctus Israel, Redemptor tuus. (Domin. ii. Noct. 1, Respons. 1.) 1 Galat. v. 6. 2 Dan. ix. 27. can this be reconciled, it may be asked, with the supposed glory of Jerusalem? We answer, that the words end and consummation, here used by the prophet, do not mean the end and consummation of all things, but the end and consummation of the time appointed in the decrees of Providence for the preaching of the Gospel through the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and of the entrance of the fulness of the Gentiles into the Church. This seems expressly indicated by the passage which we have quoted above, where our Saviour says, "Jerusalem shall be trodden down by the Gentiles, till the time of the nations be fulfilled." 1 ARTICLE VII. An important question respecting the future glory of On considering the great triumph to which Jerusalem seems to be destined by Divine Providence, when the children of Israel shall be converted to the Lord, the following question presents itself to the mind: Where will then be the seat of the supreme Pontificate? Will it continue in Rome, or will it be removed from thence to Jerusalem ? This is a most delicate question, which requires particular consideration. It is of faith that St. Peter and his successors were endowed by Christ with supreme authority and power, as visible heads over all His flock, whether pastors or faithful. "Thou art Peter," said Jesus to His disciple; "and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."2 And again, "Simon, 1 Luke xxi. 24. 2 Matt. xvi. 18. Simon, behold Satan has desired to have thee that he may sift thee as wheat. But I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not; and thou being once converted, confirm thy brethren." 1 And again : "Simon, son of John, lovest thou me? Feed my lambs.. Feed my sheep.” 2 This truth of the supremacy of St. Peter and of his successors over the whole Church was expressly defined by the general Council of Florence, where the fathers thus express themselves: "We define, that the holy Roman See, and the Roman Pontiff, holds the primacy over the whole world, and that the Roman Pontiff is the successor of St. Peter, prince of the apostles, and true vicar of Christ, and the head of the whole Church, and the father and doctor of Christians; and that to him, in St. Peter, was given by our Lord Jesus Christ full power to feed, rule, and govern the universal Church, as appears from the proceedings of general councils, and holy canons." 3 We are then certain with the certainty of faith, that the successors of St. Peter are, and will ever be, endowed with supreme power over the Church of Christ, and that all the faithful who wish to live up to the spirit of their calling are strictly bound in duty to obey and revere them as such, as long as the world shall last. But here a question arises: Is it absolutely necessary that Rome should be the seat of the supreme Pontiff? Is the supreme power, granted by Christ to St. Peter and to his successors over the whole Church, so closely connected with the see of Rome that it cannot absolutely be removed from it and trans2 John xxi. 16, 17. 1 Luke xxii. 31, 32. 3 Last Session. |