Word to the Wise
Thursday, November 20, 2025 - 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, For the days are coming when you enemies will raise a palisade against you; they will encircle you and hem you in on all sides. They will smash you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave one stone upon another within you because you did not recognize the time of your visitation." [Luke]
The Gospel According to Luke is composed as a single story of Jesus' ministry, beginning in Galilee, to Jerusalem, and, in the Acts of the Apostles, from Jerusalem to the rest of the known world at the time. Thus, the scene in today's passage depicts Jesus' first and last visit just before his triumphal procession during Passover which we celebrate on Palm Sunday. What is described is what happened when the Roman army, roughly 40 years after Jesus' death and resurrection, crushed a rebellion similar to the one described in the books of the Maccabees. The strategy and the results were the classic Roman ways of conquering a city.
I remember my first sight of the city of Jerusalem from the window of a bus driving on the way from Jericho. It was an emotional experience. But for Jesus, as a Jew, it was a tragic experience. The very city where he would suffer and die would itself suffer and die because it was blind to God's offer of a very different kind of kingdom.
In pastoral life, I have witnessed tragedy in the lives of students and other parishioners who were blinded to the possible consequences of certain religious, political or social decisions. These can be individual or collective in nature, as history has demonstrated over and over again. Prophetic warnings are often met with violence. Jesus himself would be put to death as a threat to Roman and Jewish socio-political power. The Gospel According to Luke is intended to remind missionaries that they will face stubborn and blind resistance to their ministry. Tears of frustration, like those of Jesus over Jerusalem, will inevitably be part of the experience. AMEN
Comment on Reflection
<< Previous Date [Back to List] Next Date >>