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Reflection by Lucas Folan

The Prince of Peace in Tears

“Would that even today you knew the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes” (Lk. 19:41)

These were the words that met us as we walked into Dominus Flevit, the church marking the spot on the Mount of Olives where the Lord wept over Jerusalem. They were inscribed in Latin on the wall opposite us, along with the subsequent verses containing Jesus’s prediction of the horrific destruction of the city at the hands of the Romans, a prediction which came true about forty years after he spoke it.

First-century Israel was a people who longed for peace. Their famous history included 400 years of Egyptian slavery, 40 years of wandering in the desert, countless wars, two major exiles, and, in their time, Roman oppression. Amid the darkest of these trials, the Israelite prophets witnessed to the coming of a Messiah who would bring about God’s everlasting kingdom of peace. (Isaiah 11 is worth meditating on this Lent.)

In his tears, Jesus reveals himself to be, not only the Messiah, but indeed the very God who desires peace for his people, even more than they desire it for themselves. He is Peace Incarnate. Why, then, did his own people “not know the time of [their] visitation” (Lk. 19:44)?

We can fruitfully apply this question to ourselves, especially during this holy season of Lent. We are unimaginably privileged to live on the other side of salvation history. Jesus, in offering himself on the cross to the Father as the perfect sacrifice of love, has shown us precisely what makes for peace. Indeed, we saw and tasted it for ourselves when we approached the altar for Holy Communion. Nonetheless, in our daily experience of sin and its burdens, we can recognize that, in many ways, the ways of peace remain hidden from us. This year, I hope to allow the Lenten practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving to transform my heart in such a way that it yearns, increasingly and uncompromisingly, for the peace of Christ, crowned King in his Passion, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension. Some thoughts shaping my resolves:

Prayer: Is God’s presence in and kingship of my heart evident to myself and others throughout the day, outside of dedicated times of prayer? What are the fruits of my times in prayer, and how do they lead me to deeper prayer and concrete action?

Fasting: What do I consume, materially and spiritually, which ultimately robs me of peace? Where am I lacking in trust of God and his providence for me, his beloved son?

Almsgiving: Concretely, what are the gifts God gives me that he asks me to give back to him? How can I invest my time, talents, and treasure in God’s kingdom?

May Jesus, hidden in the Eucharist and in our souls, extend his kingdom of peace to the deepest recesses of our hearts.

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Lucas Folan is a 1st Year of Theology seminarian from the Diocese of Paterson.