HE SHED TEARS OVER IT

PRAYER MOMENT 

Thursday 20 November 2014

HE SHED TEARS OVER IT

                     

Pause. Be still in God’s presence.

Reading: “As Jesus drew near to Jerusalem and came in sight of the city he shed tears over it and said, ‘If you in your turn had only understood on this day the message of peace!’” (Luke 19:41-44)

Reflection. As pilgrims today draw near to Jerusalem they are shown the chapel built to mark this moment. It is called ‘The Lord wept.’ He wept because then as now people miss the opportunity for peace and there is nothing the Lord can do about it. We can pray for peace till the cows come home but if we don’t have a change of heart nothing else will change. This is true not just of Jerusalem – there is weeping there now over an attack a day or two ago – but it is also true of our families, our groupings – for and against each other – and our countries. Jesus wept and continues to weep over the refusal of people to open their eyes to “the message of peace.” We are astonished at modern day Israelis’ obduracy of heart but it is not just them. We have to come closer to home and look at our own hearts.     

Prayer. Lord, help us to understand ‘the message of peace’ that is right there before our eyes but we do not see it. Amen.  

David Harold-Barry SJ