Luke 19:41-44

1 Maccabees 2:15-29

Psalm 50:1b-2, 5-6, 14-15

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. Mattathias in the City of Modein: During this week, the First Reading deals with the period of Jewish history known as the Maccabean Revolt. The revolt was provoked by the actions of Antiochus IV, who desecrated the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem in 167 B.C. and tried to eliminate all Jewish practices. The center of resistance to Antiochus was found in Modein, a village some 17 miles northwest of Jerusalem. “In Modein, an aged priest named Mattathias and his five sons – John, Simon, Judas, Eleazar, and Jonathan – countered the king’s officers who had been sent there to force the inhabitants into apostasy” (Gray and Cavins, Walking with God, 236). When the village was summoned to a public assembly and commanded to offer the pagan sacrifice, Mattathias declared that even if every Gentile nation obeyed the king, he and his sons would not forsake the covenant of their fathers. When a Jewish man approached the pagan altar set up in Modein to offer sacrifice, Mattathias was spurred by zeal for the Torah and killed the man and the messenger of the king. His actions recall those of Phinehas in the book of Numbers (25:6-15) and Elijah in 1 Kings (18:40). 

3. Teaching Children the Story of God: Mattathias rallied those who would join him and his sons in the resistance to the decrees of King Antiochus. They fled to the Gophna Hills. Among those who fled to the mountains with Mattathias were the Hasidim, meaning the “pious ones.” It is from these Hasidim that groups like Pharisees and the Essenes descend. “Before his death, Mattathias encouraged his sons to ‘remember the deeds of the fathers’ (1 Mc 2:51). He continued by recalling the deeds of great men throughout salvation history who, when faced with trial and testing, proved faithful to God and his covenant (1 Mc 2:51-64). Mattathias raised up the lives of these holy men before the eyes of his sons, stirring their hearts and rousing their courage. Mattathias knew well the stories of Israel’s great heroes and forefathers, and had taught them to his sons so that they could recall them often to strengthen their resolve to be faithful to God’s truth” (Gray and Cavins, Walking with God, 237). By teaching his children the story of God and his people in salvation history, Mattathias is a model for all parents, who need to encourage their children with the lives of holy men and women who have gone before them.

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? How am I teaching my children and my family about the story of God and the unfolding of the plan of salvation?