Word to the Wise
Thursday, November 20, 2014 - Thursday in the 33th Week in Ordinary Time
[Rev 5:1-10 and Luke 19:41-44]As Jesus drew near Jerusalem, he saw the city and wept over it, saying, "If this day you only knew what makes for peace - but now it is hidden from your eyes..." [Luke]
By the time the Gospel of Luke was composed, there were genuine ruins in Jerusalem to be wept over! Jesus' description of the military methods of the Romans was known from ancient Roman conquests, but in the Gospel of Luke it has a terrible sadness because of what he came to offer and what they were too blind to see.
The Gospel of Luke organizes Jesus' ministry around an image of his beginning from very humble origins to bringing his message eventually to Jerusalem. From there, the apostles and other missionaries would bring it to the known civilized world, especially Peter and Paul. This message would meet with the same resistance that Jesus met with. It is to encourage the community to persevere that Luke has composed his gospel.
We cannot allow the gospel to become a museum piece and lose its freshness. Nor can we be discouraged by resistance. Do we want to give Jesus an excuse to weep over us? Humanity has often done that. Baptism allows us to know the time of our "visitation" if only we take it consciously and seriously and realize the joy that is ours to preach. AMEN