‘If you had only understood on this day the message of peace’.
In today’s gospel reading, Jesus weeps over the city of Jerusalem. Already in Lk 13:34 we see how Jesus spoke similar words about Jerusalem in grief; “Jerusalem, Jerusalem! She who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her. How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!” This rejection of the love of God would usher in destruction of the city of Jerusalem. What Jesus wants to make us aware is that God will never withdraw the offer of the free gift of love and of His grace, but the unwillingness on the part of human being to accept this offer will have serious consequences. God will never force us to love Him. He will never interfere in human freedom. But what He wishes is that the humans understand that real freedom consists in choosing God. The Lord wants us to choose what he would choose, to make our choices in accordance with his will for our lives. He weeps when we fail to do so. The gospel reading suggests that the Lord cannot force himself upon us. He seeks us out but we have to allow ourselves to be found.
✍️ CB