Thursday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time
There are times in our lives when we can identify rather closely with the sorrowful Christ. His teaching and preaching bore much fruit, but He also experienced great hardship and outright rejection. Jesus can identify with our hurt because He Himself experienced hurt as well.
Jesus saw the city [Jerusalem] and wept over it, saying, “If this day you only knew what makes for peace…” Jesus wept for the people who did not accept Him as the Son of God. Jerusalem will not find peace but will become the victim of devastation. Only Jesus mediates true peace in our lives, though we frequently look elsewhere to discover this lasting peace.
Pope Francis reflected: “If something should rightly disturb us and trouble our consciences, it is the fact that so many of our brothers and sisters are living without the strength, light, and consolation born of friend¬ship with Jesus Christ, without a community of faith to support them, without meaning and a goal in life” (Evangelii Gaudium, 49). Unfortunately, many people have fallen into despair because they believed the lie that we can have it all by just living according to the values of our culture. But, it is only in living an authentic relationship with Jesus Christ that we find meaning that lasts and promises eternal salvation.
Amid the many passing attractions, we recall that Christ is our peace, the one who reconciled us with God and gave us access in one Spirit to the Father. May we seek deeper union and friendship with Jesus Christ, that we may better witness the great deeds God has done for us.
Reflection Question: How is Jesus Christ inviting you to find lasting peace in Him alone?
Reflection by Fr. Paul Sheller, OSB
Posted in Articles for Ordinary Time, Daily Reflections