BELOVED ZION - C: 2nd Sun in OrdTime

First Reading: Isa 62:1-5 (16 January 2022)

“Like a young man marrying a virgin, so will the one who built you wed you, and as the bridegroom rejoices in his bride, so will your God rejoice in you” (Isa 62:5).

As a bride.... This how Zion is depicted in this prophecy of Isaiah. Zion is indeed alluded to a woman, who is described as someone who is eligible to be married (v. 4). Before such a time, she had been called “Forsaken” and “Desolate” (v. 4), indicating that she had been ignored. But being “a crown of beauty” and “a royal diadem” (v. 3), the Lord took delight in her (v. 4) and rejoiced over her marriage (v. 5). Yet, this imagery remains to be a metaphor to the land of Jerusalem as the name Zion “originally denotes a locality on the south-eastern hill of Jerusalem” (cf. HALOT). Being situated on top of the hill, it is an elevated piece of land and it is often labeled in the Scriptures as “Mt. Zion” both in the OT (Isa 8:18) and the NT (Rev 14:1).

But since this mountaintop was also chosen by David to be the location of his palace/fortress and later by Solomon to be the site of the temple of God’s presence, Zion is also referred to as the “stronghold of David” (2 Sam 5:7; 1 Chr 11:5). For this reason, David would fight for this locale at all costs, and so were his successors of the later generations despite her fall to the Assyrians/Babylonians in 587/586 BCE. She would later be rebuilt in the time of Nehemiah and Ezra after the Babylonian exile and would recover her old glory as the domain and the house of God. Yet, at the culmination of the First Jewish War (66−70 CE), she would fateful be destroyed by the Romans, never to be rebuilt anymore.

What remains with her is the so-called Wailing Wall that marks again her state of being “Forsaken” and Desolate” (Isa 62:4).

In this light, Isaiah in the first reading was clearly associating Zion as a territorial land. Thus, Isaiah also used the images of kings and nations in addressing her, “The nations shall see your vindication, and all the kings your glory” (Isa 62:2). If Zion is the land of Jerusalem, Isaiah is communicating that we should equally treat our homelands with care, love, and devotion as a husband would love his wife.

As a husband protects his wife, so should each citizen fight for his/her beloved nation, being faithful to her in observance of their sacred marital covenant.

But more than this imagery of husband and wife, Zion is also frequently qualified as a mother. Thus, we hear of expressions such as “children of Zion” (Joel 2:23; Psa 149:2) or “daughter of Zion” (Isa 3:16; Song 3:10; Jer 4:36; Zech 9:9; Zeph 3:14; Mt 21:5; Jn 12:15), signifying that Zion has conceived many children, who remain attached to her with the metaphorical umbilical cord of patriotism, pride, and loyalty. Along these lines, we alternately call our country of origin “motherland,” while her citizens are universally considered as her very children.

If our home countries are our biological mothers, it entails that all of us should never relinquish our ties with her nor abandon her despite her old age, weariness, and even sickness.

By and large, Zion is alluded to in the Scriptures within the metaphor of a family... either as a wife to her husband or a mother to her children, where love, trust, hope, and dedication should grow. If Zion signifies our own homelands, it connotes that as citizens we should treat our motherlands with a tender affinal care. In our contemporary world where mobility and individualism are highly valued, love for the motherland has been less emphasized. But as her children, we should never forsake nor make her desolate by cutting our ties with her. Let us look for means on how we can care and fight for her cause. The first step is on being committed to an honest, wise, and informed voting of her leaders to make sure that she lives and survives.

- Rex Fortes, CM