Yet, amidst the rubble and the destruction, as Catholic author Scott Hahn points out, there is a small neglected historical detail, that one structure did remain, that one Church still stood, the first Christian church structure…on Mount Zion.
This was the place where the upper room was, the place where the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles, the place where Jesus instituted the Most Holy Eucharist.
In our second reading today, John, in the Book of Revelation, sees something amazing, he sees that same holy city, Jerusalem descending upon the earth, but it is not as it was, rather, it is a restored city, a new city, an eternal city, a New Jerusalem, “touching down” as Hahn puts it: “On Mount Zion [the place known as the heavenly Jerusalem] where Jesus had…instituted the Eucharist…where Christians till [70 A.D.] met to celebrate the Eucharist,” so that, as he goes on to say:
“The new Jerusalem came to earth, then as now, in the place where Christians celebrated the supper of the Lamb.”
What that means then is that at this very Mass, at any Mass, Heaven itself literally descends upon the earth, in fact, that is why the church is here as it is, because it imitates, in the most beautiful and the most solemn way, the heavenly feast so that together we worship, we sing and we adore with the angels and the saints. This too, is why God’s presence is in the center of it all, so that our focus is constantly drawn to Him, as it was before, He who is our source, our summit and the center of our lives.
That is why every single time we come to Mass we get a glimpse of this, we are given a foretaste of what Heaven will be like. Partaking in that lasting and eternal peace, when the only light we need will be Him. When the darkness of sin and death will no longer exist, when there will be no need for the sun or the moon or the stars, because God Himself will be the only lamp, the only light that we need.
When we come to Mass then, we are not just walking into a Church, waiting for a show to start, rather, we are preparing ourselves to enter into one of the most profound and most beautiful mysteries of our lives, the very essence of Heaven touching down to earth, as it does upon that altar, something that effects everything, everybody, everywhere. In fact, this is why the gates are facing east, north, south and west, to show that, indeed, it is all encompassing, and why the foundation of this church is not brick and mortar, but the very Apostles themselves, those who built the church not with hammer and nails, but the very blood they shed.
This is what makes the Eucharist as it is here, an unfading fire in Heaven, and the Resurrection that we all look forward to, that which supersedes even Heaven itself, the dawn that never sets.
This is the mystery and the beautiful experience that we get a glimpse of and that we get to partake in every single time we come here, every single time we celebrate the Holy Mass.
Today, then, is not just another day we have to go to Mass but, indeed a unique and beautiful opportunity to walk through the doorway to Heaven opening a pathway before us to the angels, to the saints, indeed, to very life of God, where in their midst we celebrate the same feast as them, the heavenly feast, the eternal banquet of the Lamb.
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