Engage in a little audio divina today with Moçnik Damijan’s Ierusalem. Damijan’s text is taken from Psalm 122 – sung in Latin and English – and the names for Jerusalem in multiple languages.

Jerusalem has only rarely, if ever, been a “city of peace,” as its name signifies. It is a prophetic, rather than a descriptive, name. In Luke’s gospel, Jesus “sets his face toward Jerusalem” in chapter 9 and does not arrive until chapter 19; most of his ministry takes place as he journeys toward the cross. Both God and Jesus lament over Jerusalem repeatedly in the Old and New Testament; it represents a place that has a special place in the heart of God, but which has never reached its potential. The prophetic book of Revelation ends in a description of a new “city of peace” in which God’s will is finally done on earth as it is now in heaven.

For what place or city do you feel moved to pray? Pray along with the groans and whispers and cries and melodies of the choir. Pray for its peace and reconciliation and fulfillment and the success of those working to improve the lives of its inhabitants.

Temple Mount and Western Wall by Ludwig Blum