Catechesis Notes for the Week — Psalm 122: A Prayer for the City of God—What is the Lord’s city on earth? It is the Church of Jesus Christ, the congregation of all the baptized faithful among whom the Gospel is preached, and the Sacraments are administered. When David prays for “the house of the Lord,” Jerusalem, and the palaces of the Lord we should understand that this refers to the Church. At the heart of the “City of God” on earth is faith and the gift of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of all believers, but it has very real and concrete outward expressions. Confessing before the world, public preaching, the Sacraments, and the gathering together of the baptized faithful to receive these gifts is how the outward ministry of Word and Sacraments creates and nourishes the gift of faith in Christ and the fruits of love to others. So, David prays, “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go into the house of the Lord.’ Our feet have been standing within your gates, O Jerusalem!  Our Divine service is that “Jerusalem” and “House of the Lord” today.  David not only recognized the necessity to gather together to receive God’s gifts, but He rejoiced to do so because the Lord’s Word and Sacraments are the source of salvation and comfort for every Christian. Many tribes and nations flood into the Church. We rejoice in the testimony of the Lord’s blood shed for our forgiveness. We pray for the peace of the Church and the prosperity of all who enter into her.

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