Message of Abbot Paul - Thursday 18th November
Message from Fr Paul for Thursday, 18th November 2021
I have never been to the Holy Land, although have read some wonderful books about it, laden with spectacular photographs, so can just about imagine what it must have been like for pilgrims to Jerusalem in Jesus’ day coming within sight of the Holy City. Today’s Gospel passage from Luke, (Lk 19: 41-43), is blissfully short and tells us how Jesus shed tears at the sight of Jerusalem. “As Jesus drew near 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! But, alas, it is hidden from your eyes! Yes, a time is coming when your enemies will raise fortifications all round you, when they will encircle you and hem you in on every side; they will dash you and the children inside your walls to the ground; they will leave not one stone standing on another within you – and all because you did not recognise your opportunity when God offered it!’” The actual destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans took place in 70 A.D., ten years or more before Luke was writing his Gospel, however, in Jesus’ mind the destruction was not a direct punishment from God. It was simply the outcome of their unwillingness to respond to Jesus’ message of universal love and non-violence. The intervention of Rome had been triggered precisely by the armed revolt led by Zealots. Equally, the structures of Roman imperialism had little time for a religion like Christianity, which took seriously the invitation to love radically and universally, as the Churches around the empire soon began to find out, as we read in the Acts of the Apostles.
Jesus, it is clear experienced profound sorrow at his rejection, first of all by the religious and civil authorities of Israel and then by most of his followers. But, more important for us, what is our position and that of the world in which we live today? To what extent do we follow Jesus and accept him as the Way, the Truth and the Life? Do we truly follow his teaching? Paraphrasing the words of Jesus himself, do we live in him and he in us? Do we open our hearts and minds to him and to the Holy Spirit, that we might become temples of the Spirit? Lord, we cry over the Jerusalem that is our world, our Church and our very souls. Have mercy on us and transform our lives anew. Amen.
