Nov.17 Lectionary 500

500.doc

Scripture: Lectionary 500: I Maccabees 2:15-29. Psalm 50:1-2,5-6.14-15. Luke 19:41-44:

Jesus weeps over the city of Jerusalem. The Journey Narrative has come to an end and his disciples are ready to celebrate his entry into the city as the Anointed one of God, the Messiah. Jesus, however, weeps over the holy city because of its past sins and the present impending dangers from the Roman occupation. Luke is the only Evangelist to recall this weeping of Jesus. As the most compassionate Gospel the third evangelist, Luke, shows us his own union with Jesus by his recollection of this scene. It shows us the humanity of Jesus clearly.

We too are often found weeping in our reflective moments and our prayers as we witness what is happening on planet Earth each day. Massacres, pogroms, wars, violence to other humans as well as to nature continue on. We are in the tensions between extreme nationalism and globalization. Courageous and honorable leaders are scarce. We weep with Jesus over our own limits in all of this yet we continue to hope because Jesus gives us hope despite his tears. His words help: “If only you had known the path to peace.”

We join our tears and sufferings to those of Jesus. We pray for our departed loved ones, for those who are ill, for those on foreign lands fighting for freedom and education. Even just down the street we may be aware of the homeless, the suffering, the abused. We weep.

Jesus with us in our sorrows, our mourning, and our need for interior peace and peace throughout the world. He continues to give us hope among all these tragic happenings. In the recalling of those who have gone before us and have struggled as we do we find the lives and writings of the saints to be consoling. The tears of Jesus are seen in the mystical writings of St. Gertrude, Margaret Mary Alacoque, John Eudes and others devoted to the humanity of Jesus seen in his human heart, his sacred heart. Their visions, their prayers, and their spiritualiy keeps us fastened on the mystery of the Incarnation. We are led with them back to the heart of Jesus and his mother Mary in order to find comfort amidst our tears.

Jesus tells us “this day” that peace could be ours and our world’s if only we would know the day of our visitation. Jesus recalls the prophets and Moses to help us pray with him while we weep. “Jesus lament has a prehistory. It is the ‘sympathy of the suffering prophet, of Deuteronomy’s Moses, of Jeremiah, Isaiah, and Hosea, caught up in the rage, anguish, frustration, and sorrow of God for Israel (and for all of us) that constitutes the pathos of this story.’” (Tiede, Prophecy and History 78 in NJBC page 712, Luke). Amen.