(The nineteenth in a series of meditations on the Mysteries of the Rosary by Rev. Addisalem T. Mekonnen, Spiritual Director of the Philadelphia Senatus.)
Why is it sometimes in order to move forward in life we have to go back to our beginnings?
During my pilgrimage to the Holy Land, I visited the Church of Dormition which was built because of a Jerusalem tradition that claimed that our Lady died and was assumed into heaven in Jerusalem instead of Ephesus.
This tradition is based on apocryphal works of the second to the fourth century so their authenticity is uncertain and they are not accepted as part of the Christian canon of Scripture. However, according to biblical scholar Lino Cignelli, “All of them are traceable back to a single primitive document, a Judaeo-Christian prototype, clearly written within the mother church of Jerusalem some time during the second century, and, in all probability, composed for liturgical use right at the Tomb of Our Lady.” My tour guide gave what I thought was a very good explanation of the city’s claim to be the place of our Blessed Mother’ death and assumption into heaven.
Fr. Phillipi highlighted the point that Jerusalem is the most important place for a pilgrimage not only for Jewish people but also for Christians who converted from Judaism because this was their practice as Jews. Even St. Paul made it a point to travel back to the Church in Jerusalem for at least one of the special feasts of the Church because this was his custom as a Jew. Therefore, our Lady probably did live with St. John the Evangelist in Ephesus but they both returned for a special feast and then for dormition and assumption into heaven.
The main point is that in our journey of faith we can’t be stationary or cut off from our first encounter with Jesus but rather have an ongoing encounter with him and allow ourselves to be led by Him. The external process of moving from place to place doing work for our Lord does not necessarily reveal the interior reality of encountering and following Christ. This worker bee mentality seems similar to what our Blessed Lord was referring to when He refused to command Mary to help Martha. It was obvious that what Martha was doing was both necessary and praiseworthy because she was serving our Blessed Lord’s external needs but the conclusion that Mary was being idle is not true as well. Mary was physically still, but nevertheless she was moving toward Christ and following Him through her act of adoration. The Lord said to her in reply, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.”
Luke 10:41-42 (NABRE) Martha was called to come back to Christ and choose the better part which is returning to His real presence before going about to follow Him by serving Him in our neighbor.
I believe this tradition is true in that our Blessed Mother was called to go back to Jerusalem to die there just as Her Son died there and then experience her assumption into heaven. Even our Lady and the Holy Apostles were called by name to go back to their roots in order to encounter Christ again and experience both a death and resurrection. Perhaps for Lent we can try to go back to Jerusalem by going back to whatever spiritual practices helped us to encounter Christ in the past with a new found zeal. Or maybe we can reconnect with people who were instrumental in our conversion to help us find new ways to follow Christ. Our Lady was the first and perfect disciple so let us follow her in order to follow Christ more faithfully in our journey of faith to that heavenly Jerusalem.
Fr. Mekonnen