Word to the Wise
Thursday, November 21, 2013 - Thursday in the 33th Week in Ordinary Time
[1 Macc 2:15-29 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....."
There are many kinds of tears! There are tears of pain, tears of sorrow, tears of joy, tears of pride, tears of frustration! You may have others to cry! The scene of Jesus weeping when he sees the city as he nears the end of his journey [in more than one way!] reflects frustration and sorrow! Indeed many people still weep over Jerusalem because of the terrible religious and political divisions that it contains and symbolizes! In Jesus' case he could foresee the terrible things that lay ahead. Of course, Luke had the advantage of knowing about this since he wrote after the Romans had destroyed the city and the temple. In Jesus' case it is frustration over the rejection of his prophetic and messianic mission.
I have experienced the many kinds of tears that I mentioned above in my ministry - both on university campuses and in itinerant preaching. The hardest to bear are those of frustration - parents weeping in frustration about their children, and children weeping in frustration about their parents; students weeping in frustration over studies or broken relationships; parishioners weeping in frustration over their pastors... It is often a matter of what might have been but is not! Jesus wept over the loss of his friend, Lazarus, but that is normal grief. In the case of Jerusalem, it is a case of what might have been: "If this day you only knew what makes for peace."
If we weep for our children or parents, we might remember that it could be that Jesus weeps for us as well. Loss of faith and confidence in God's love is a terrible loss. I've seen it many times. We have to leave it all to God, even if we very humanly must weep. AMEN