MARY, OUR MOTHER

SCRIPTURE COMMENTARY #422

And when he drew near, seeing the city, he wept over it, saying: "If thou also hadst known, and that in this thy day, the things that are to thy peace: but now they are hidden from thy eyes. For the days shall come upon thee: and thy enemies shall cast a trench about thee and compass thee round and straiten thee on every side, And beat thee flat to the ground, and thy children who are in thee. And they shall not leave in thee a stone upon a stone: because thou hast not known the time of thy visitation." (Luke 19:41-44)

THE TEARS OF JESUS: All in the midst of the joy of the people and the homage paid to Him, Jesus burst into tears at the sight of the holy city! He who had dried the tears of so many, and had said to the mourners: "Weep not," now wept Himself. "This scene is so moving that it defies all attempts at description. The soul alone can try to discern what passed through the mind of Jesus, and weep with Him as a child weeps with its mother, the reason of whose tears it cannot understand. And in truth the tears of Jesus are a mystery to us, so incomprehensible is the love which brought Him from heaven to this vale of tears. He prayed for those who persecuted Him, but it is infinitely more that He should have wept over their misfortunes" (Schegg). Let us try to penetrate the mystery of these tears! He gazed at the Temple, both the erection and the services of which pointed to Him, the Redeemer, whom, in spite of all, this highly favored city refused to acknowledge! That day was the last day of grace for both city and people. His solemn entry was for them the last warning and the time of visitation: and Jesus knew but too well that this last grace would be passed by, unused, as all the rest had been, and that His chosen people would blindly reject salvation, while hatred and envy of their Savior filled the hearts of their leaders. Jesus wept therefore 1. over the blindness and obstinacy of the chosen people; for He, the Savior, was bringing no salvation to the impenitent city which, by its final rejection of Him, would fill the measure of God's wrath, and draw down on itself speedy and terrible judgment. This knowledge drew bitter tears from Him. He wept 2. over the coming downfall of Jerusalem, and the calamities which its people would bring on themselves; and still more over the eternal woe which would overtake this unfaithful and impenitent city. He therefore wept especially 3. over the eternal loss of so many souls which He had come to save. How very great is the love of the Divine Heart of Jesus, that it should make Him shed bitter tears over those who repaid His love with such ingratitude, and who were ruined by their own fault!

[From 'A Practical Commentary on Holy Scripture' by Bishop Knecht, D.D.]
(1899 Douay-Rheims Bible)