Thursday, 23rd NOVEMBER St Clement I, pope and martyr; St Columban, abbot.

Thursday, 23rd NOVEMBER
St Clement I, pope and martyr; St Columban, abbot
Luke 19:41-44

And when he drew near and saw the city he wept over it, saying, "Would that even today you knew the things that make for peace! But now they are hid from your eyes. For the days shall come upon you, when your enemies will cast up a bank about you and surround you, and hem you in on every side, and dash you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave one stone upon another in you; because you did not know the time of your visitation."

We all remember the great sorrow of Jesus on Good Friday in Gethsemane. But many have forgotten His tears over Jerusalem. The authorities of Jerusalem had been given every opportunity to repent and change their ways, but they didn't take advantage of them. God sent them prophets but they wouldn't listen to them and killed them. Eventually God sent them His Son; but again they wouldn't listen to Him. And God wondered what else He could do…and He wept.

We should meditate on the Tears of God. It's a hard thing to see a father weeping for his children who are destroying their life. Like a mother and a father, God sheds tears for His children because He loves us. Think about it slowly: We make God suffer and even cry. Many people ask God for comfort and consolation, but who comforts God? Who consoles Him?

During the apparitions of the Angel of Fatima to the three shepherds (Lucia, St Jacinta and St Francisco) he brought them Holy Communion and said: *"Take and drink the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, horribly outraged by ungrateful men. Make reparation for their crimes and console your God."* The Angel's words, *"Console your God,"* burned themselves into Francisco's heart. He sought to be the consoler of 'the Hidden Jesus' in the Tabernacle and by praying the Rosary. *"How beautiful God is, how beautiful!"* he said, *"But He is sad because of the sins of men. I want to console Him, I want to suffer for love of Him"* (St Francisco Marto died at the age of 10). How do I console God and suffer for love of Him? The Angel said to the shepherds in Fatima, *"The Hearts of Jesus and Mary are attentive to your prayers."*

Mary, Our Lady of Fatima, you and your Son are attentive to my prayer, remind me often that 'I' can console GOD! Holy Souls, help me to comfort Him.

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 Commentary of the day :

Origen (c.185-253), priest and theologian
Homily 38 on Luke's Gospel, PG13, 1896-1898

"He saw the city and wept over it"

When our Lord and Saviour was close to Jerusalem and in sight of her, he wept over her: "Ah! 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"... 

Someone will perhaps say: "The meaning of these words is clear; in fact they have come to pass where Jerusalem is concerned; the Roman army laid siege to her and brought her to ruin so that she was wiped out and the time will come when she will no longer have one stone upon another."

I don't deny it; Jerusalem was destroyed because of her blindness. Yet I put you the question: didn't those tears have more to do with our own Jerusalem? For we ourselves are the Jerusalem over which Jesus wept – we who think ourselves to have such penetrating sight. If, having been instructed in the mysteries of the truth, having received the message of the Gospel and the teaching of the Church..., one of us should sin, he will give rise to lamentations and weeping since we weep, not over any of the pagans, but over someone who, having been a member of Jerusalem, has ceased to be so.

Tears are shed over our Jerusalem since, because of her sins, "enemies surround her", namely opposing forces, evil spirits. They will raise a palisade around her, lay siege to her and "will not leave one stone upon another". This is what happens when, after a long period of continence and many years of chastity, a man succumbs, overcome by the flesh... This, then, is the Jerusalem over which tears are shed.

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