November 23, 2017

Gospel: Lk 19:41-44
When Jesus had come in sight of the city, he wept over it, and said, “If only today you knew the ways of peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. Yet days will come upon you, when your enemies will surround you with barricades, and shut you in, and press on you from every side. And they will dash you to the ground and your children with you, and not leave stone upon stone within you, for you did not recognize the time and the visitation of your God.“

REFLECTION:
The entire Mystery of Incarnation is considered to be God‘s visitation to his people. God, through his son made man, visited his people more than two thousand years ago. Sad to say, as the gospel would say, they failed to recognize the time of their visitation. They failed to recognize Him. They were very concerned about their political hopes so that their spiritual life was neglected. They interpreted the Bible in the political sense instead of believing in the teachings of Jesus. In short, they did not welcome Jesus and they rejected him because they failed to recognize in him the God visiting his people.
Even after Jesus had returned to the Father, He still continuously “visits“ His people. He “visits“ His people through the ministers of the Church, through the Word of God being proclaimed, and through the sacraments especially the Eucharist that the Church celebrates. Jesus also makes His presence felt every time a community is gathered in His name. He also “visits“ us through the ordinary events of our life.
Like the Jews during Jesus‘ times, many times we also failed to recognize Him. We failed to welcome Him and let Him enter into our life. Thus, we missed a lot of blessings which we could have received from Him.
Let us now be conscious of His “ visits“ to us, recognize Him, welcome Him and let Him stay in our life.