The Journey Deep Into The Sacred
By JAMES MONTI In the Book of Revelation, St. John relates that the Heavenly Jerusalem, “the Bride, the wife of the Lamb” was enclosed within “a great, high wall” with twelve gates (Rev. 21:9, 12). The imagery of enclosing, setting apart and distancing that which is sacred from the rest of creation, of drawing firm boundaries between the sacred and the profane, of defining “holy places” by separating them from their surroundings — the recognition of that which is the privileged “property” of God — runs through the Bible and down through two millennia of Catholic life and liturgy. When Moses was drawn to Mount Sinai for the first time by the mysterious sight of the burning bush, the Lord…Continue Reading