Gospel:
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 upon you when your 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.
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Reflection:
What will
happen to us if we refuse to hear the wise counsel of our elders? For example,
if we are advised to stop our vicious vices or to stop doing something which is
immoral or wrong? If we continue to refuse to hear their wise counsel. Eventually
these vices and the wrongdoing/s that we continue to do will take us down
through sickness, embarrassment and so forth.
In the
gospel for today, Jesus wept over Jerusalem and its people for they refused to
hear His call of repentance and reform in their lives. Not only that they
refused to listen to Jesus they also refused to listen to the prophets who were
sent before Jesus. They instead mired themselves in sin similar to a beast miring
itself in a pool of poisonous mud.
When we
refuse to let Jesus come into our life and when we continue to refuse to hear
His call of repentance. There would surely be no peace within us no matter how
rich we are, how powerful we are. For as long as we refuse to hear His call we
will have no peace we would still be living complicated lives that may
eventually destroy us.
Jerusalem
did not find peace and were destroyed by the Romans during the first revolt in
A.D 70, because they refused Jesus, they did not recognized Him as the ultimate
peace bearer. They instead continued to stray far from Him.
Jesus is
always knocking in our hearts, always begging us to open our life to Him. For
the reason that he will not only bring us peace He would also bring us
contentment, serenity and other things that this world cannot give us.
If today
you hear His voice harden not your hearts. (Psalm 95) (Hebrew
3:15). – Marino J. Dasmarinas