In the tears Our Lord sheds in today’s Gospels we can find two regrets: that despite his perfect fidelity to the plan of his Heavenly Father not as many would benefit from his redemption as could have, and over how much more he expected from his beloved Jerusalem, also known as the city of David with all the Messianic importance that implied. The end of his earthly mission was coming soon, and when the end is in sight, regrets often bring tears to our eyes.
We can only imagine how Jerusalem and Israel would have been if they’d welcomed him in faith to be their Messiah and eternal king, but to do so they had to believe in a reign and a Kingdom that was far greater than the territory of Palestine and the earthly Jerusalem. Jesus was to usher in a new earth, a justice and freedom that would last forever. We, in faith and hope, know that this has begun and will be completed in the future. They put their faith in an earthly city and earthly aspirations, and Our Lord knew those would turn to rubble within a few decades after his Ascension: Jerusalem and the Temple were razed to the ground in 70 A.D. by the Romans suppressing the Zealot uprising.
Our Lord shed those tears for all of us, not just those of his earthly ministry. We can still dry those tears. Let’s ask the Holy Spirit to help us listen to what Our Lord wants to share with us, and for the strength to imitate him in fidelity to the Heavenly Father’s plan for our lives and for the world.
Readings: 1 Maccabees 2:15–29; Psalm 50:1b–2, 5–6, 14–15; Luke 19:41–44.