23rd November.  Jesus’ Concern. Going on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land has been popular for many centuries.  Nowadays Jerusalem doesn’t look like it did in Jesus’ time as it was partly destroyed by the Romans only 30 years after his death. It was captured and fought over in many wars over the centuries, right up to our day, when it is not Jerusalem that is directly threatened but Gaza.  No doubt Jesus would weep as grievously as ever over Jerusalem and all of the Holy Land today and the fate of its Jewish children as well as the Palestinians and various Christian groups who also have a share in the city and the country.  How many other cities in the world would he weep over, not because of external enemies but because the enemy is within? Would he weep over ours? 

Reflect, share, Scripture.    Jesus wept over Jerusalem saying, “The days are coming when your enemies will hem you in on every side and dash you to the ground, you and your children within you because you did not know the time of your visitation.” Luke 19:41-44.  Pope Francis:  Eight years have passed since I published the encyclical Laudato Si, when I wanted to share with all of you my brothers and sisters of our suffering planet my heartfelt concerns about the care of our common home.   Yet with the passage of time, I have realised that our responses have not been adequate while the world in which we live is collapsing and may be nearing the breaking point. The impact of climate change will increasingly prejudice the lives and families of many persons.  We will feel its effects in the areas of healthcare, sources of employment, access to resources, housing, forced migration, etc .LD 2.     Action and prayer:  Remember in prayer the needs of those who have suffered during the Israeli-Hamas war as well as our own whom we have loved and lost.