Luke 19:41-44

Revelation 5:1-10

Psalm 149:1b-2, 3-4, 5-6a and 9b

Luke 19:41-44

As Jesus drew near Jerusalem,

he saw the city and wept over it, saying,

“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;

they will encircle you and hem you in on all sides.

They will smash you to the ground and your children within you,

and they will not leave one stone upon another within you

because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”

Opening Prayer: Lord God, instill your peace in my heart. Visit me in my lowliness. Do not let me succumb during times of trial and tribulation. You are my rock and my salvation. Whom shall I fear with you at my side?

Encountering the Word of God

1. Jesus Wept over Jerusalem: Jesus is drawing near to the city of Jerusalem and is riding on a colt to fulfill the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9. He comes as a peaceful king on a donkey and not as a despotic tyrant on a warhorse. Before entering the city, Jesus is brought to tears as he contemplates its future destruction. Jesus predicts that the religious leaders of Jerusalem will be unwilling to welcome him as the true king of peace and that God’s plan is hidden from them. He foretells how, within a generation (in 40 years), the Roman general Titus will build ramparts, encircle Jerusalem, and lay siege to the city. All this will take place because the people did not recognize the time of their visitation: “God is visiting Jerusalem through Jesus’ arrival to the city. The visitation is intended to bring redemption (Luke 1:68, 78; 7:16) but will instead bring judgment to those who do not welcome it” (Gadenz, The Gospel of Luke, 328).

2. Worthy is the Lamb: In Revelation 4, John narrated his vision of the heavenly liturgy of creation. In Revelation 5, he narrates his vision of the liturgy of redemption. In this vision, John contemplates Jesus as the Lion of the tribe of Judah and as the Lamb worthy to break open the seals of the scroll. The scroll Jesus breaks open represents the establishment of the New Covenant. One of the effects of the New Covenant is the royal priesthood given to believers. Another effect is that we are brought into the family of God as God’s adopted children. “Jesus’ ability to ‘open the scroll,’ that is, to fulfill God’s covenant promises, depends on His Davidic lineage […]. The covenants in the Old Testament reach their climax in God’s covenant promise to David to establish an everlasting kingdom through his son (2 Samuel 7:8-16)” (Barber, Coming Soon, 90). When John turns to see the Lion of Judah, he instead sees a slain Lamb. This means that Jesus, the Son of David, is victorious not through weapons and armies but through the sacrificial offering of his own life. In every mass and liturgy, we unite our prayer and worship to the new song of the New Exodus, sung by saints in heaven. We praise Jesus, for he has redeemed us with his blood and has brought us out of exile and into the restored Kingdom of David.

3. The Presentation and Consecrated Virginity of Mary: On this day, we celebrate the memorial of the presentation of Mary in the Temple. We do not have an account of her presentation in the Bible, but we do have one in the Protoevangelium of James. According to this tradition, Mary was consecrated to God and brought to the Temple at the age of three, and she remained in the Temple until the age of twelve when Joseph became her guardian. According to tradition, Mary’s father, Joachim, died when she was six, and her mother, Anne, died when she was eight. From Mary’s words to the angel (Luke 1:34) and Joseph’s abstinence after taking Mary as his wife (Matthew 1:24-25), we can deduce that Mary likely took a vow of virginity and abstinence (Numbers 30:13) and that Joseph accepted this vow at the time of their betrothal (see Pitre, Jesus and the Jewish Roots of Mary, 103-115). Although the Bible does not speak about Mary’s presentation, it does speak about her virginity and consecration. She and her husband, Joseph, consecrated their bodies to God and began to live out the future life of the resurrection in the present world. Mary’s consecration and perpetual virginity point “us to the eternal life of the world to come, the resurrection, and the new creation, in which ordinary marital relations will pass away because death will be no more” (Pitre, Jesus and the Jewish Roots of Mary, 130).

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, you are the Son of David and the Son of God. Have mercy on me. Bring me to enjoy life in your divine family as your sibling. Fill me with your Spirit so that I may offer the Father an acceptable sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving.

Living the Word of God: How am I welcoming Jesus and his words into my life? When I am at mass, do I realize that I gather with all the angels and saints in the worship of the Father through the Son and in the Spirit? How can I live the earthly liturgy better?