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A HOMILY DELIVERED ON THURSDAY, THE 18TH OF NOVEMBER, 2010; THE

THIRTHY-THIRD WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR II BY OGUNDIPE ISRAEL

IN THE SEMINARY CHAPEL.

John, in the first reading of today, describes his vision of God holding in his right

hand a scroll but found no one worthy to take and open it seals except for ‘a lamb that

seemed to have been sacrificed’ as we read in Rev. 5:6. Thus, John sets the grounds and

reasons for the worthiness of the figure that will accomplish the very task which will

determine the fate of humanity. And with this imagery, he re-echoes the image of the

suffering servant in Is. 53 by whose suffering we are healed. Let us recall that the twenty-four

elders mentioned first his suffering, thereafter they exclaimed the fruits of his suffering which

is, the redemption of man and his exaltation. Brethren, without a cross there can never be a

crown, let us see beyond our present discomfort to the bright future it promises.

In the gospel reading, however, Luke exposes us to the nature of Jesus’ suffering

making him perform similar action as John did in the first reading. He wept. He wept over

Jerusalem for not recognising the message of peace when it came. Surprisingly, the city, (i.e.

Jerusalem) whose name means peace, does not recognise the visitation of Jesus, whom Luke

describes as God’s agent of peace in Lk. 13:34-35. What a contradiction! A wrath-incurring

one indeed!

Jesus’ lament which shows his tender love for God’s people has a certain prophetic

prehistory to it as Moses, Jeremiah, Isaiah, and even Hosea, caught up in the rage, the

anguish, and the sorrow of God for Israel, lamented in the same way. Now the religious

leaders of Jerusalem are repeating the mistakes of their ancestors with their utter rejection of

the message of peace which Jesus stands for and they are going to pay dearly for it. But more

importantly, let us take note of the abruptness in the tone of Jesus when he says in Lk 19:42
‘if you in your turn had only understood on this day the message of peace!’ It is as if he is

saying as the Psalmist does in Ps 81:13, ‘How I wish my people would listen to me, how I

wish they will obey me!’ Jesus’ style of speaking here lays all the blame of Jerusalem’s

impending doom on herself. Brethren, it is our bounding duty to recognise the moment of

God’s visitation in our lives as individuals and as a people. When are these moments, we may

wonder. Times when we enjoy the means of grace in abundance, and we have the word of

God powerfully preached to us, even as we here it this morning, those times when the Spirit

strives with us, and our consciences are startled and awakened. Dear friends, these are the

moments of God’s visit in our lives, these are the moments of grace. We often allow these

moments slip away, not maximally benefiting from them, when we completely give in to

temporal things and get weakened by our bodily passions. Remember, we are called to be

people of sound morality. Jesus would rather wish that we have a total change of heart today.

May God grant us, through our Lady’s intercession, victory in our struggle against our

weaknesses of life. Amen.

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