The City of God

Psalm 46:2-3, 5-6, 8-9. March 21, 2023 - Tuesday, 4th Week of Lent

Psalm 46 expresses confidence in God’s protection amidst turbulent times. It focuses on Jerusalem which experienced a lot of frightening moments in its history. Then, it prophesies about a future of universal peace. In this way, the psalm reminds us about the famous prophecy of Micah and Isaiah in which Jerusalem becomes a pilgrimage centre for all and the nations will stop learning how to conduct war (see Is 2:1-4; Micah 4:1-3).

In 410 AD, the eternal city of Rome was invaded and plundered by Germanic tribes. Nothing like this happened in nearly 800 years and many blamed the new religion of the Roman Empire, Christianity. Three years later, in 413 AD Saint Augustine wrote the famous book titled “the city of God” that aimed to refute the blame put on Christianity for the disintegration of the Western Roman Empire. The Romans should blame themselves for the fall of their beloved city. It was a punishment for their sins of idolatry and immoral living. But, the author did not stop there. He laid foundations for new theological thoughts that would impact the Western world for centuries. 

Saint Augustine saw the history of humanity as the struggle between the earthly city and the city of God. He understood the earthly city the way Saint John understood the world. It is marked by sin, “the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life” (1 John 2:1). On the other hand, the city of God is composed of those who do not love this kind of the world but love the Father and do His will (see 1 John 2:15-17). This idea remains with us today. The Church sees our personal and community life as a struggle between good and evil, darkness and light. But, the victory of good and light over evil and darkness is assured because of Christ’s victory on the cross. Although there are still many battles to be fought the war is already won. Not even the gates of hell can prevail over the Church established by Jesus Christ and built on the testimony of the apostles (see Matt 16:18-20).

All three Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) preserved for us a story when the disciples in the middle of the night were crossing the Lake of Galilee and an unexpected storm came upon them. The lake represents the world and the boat stands for the Church. Jesus was peacefully sleeping during the storm and when awakened by his disciples he calmed the wind and the sea (Matt 8:23-27). And when, on Good Friday, the darkness enveloped the entire land and all seemed lost with the death of Jesus, “at the break of the dawn” (Ps 46:6) on Easter Sunday the tomb of Jesus was found empty and the news about his resurrection began to circulate from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth.

Despite all historical upheaval, the Church stands strong and growing because the Lord is in our midst. The Lord is our stronghold, our refuge, and “an ever-present help in distress” (Ps 46:2). He guides us into that future of a new heaven and a new earth where the nations will stop learning the skill of war and come to the city of God, the Church, to worship the true and living God - the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.