Luke 19: 41-44
As Jesus came near Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, “If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. Indeed, the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up ramparts around you and surround you, and hem you in on every side. They will crush you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave within you one stone upon another; because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.”
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
What Warrants Lament?
Lamentation runs throughout the Bible. It is only in modern times that this practice has been abandoned almost entirely. God’s people have always called out to him in prayer while enduring hardship. David laments to God in more than fifty of the Psalms. Job cries out in agony to the Lord questioning the purpose of his birth. In this scripture from Luke, Jesus laments, but not just for himself, rather for Jerusalem. Jesus, who is love and only love, laments through his sacred tears for the impending loss of freedom for Jerusalem.
Lament is an act of faith. During lament we may not always feel God’s presence, but by faith we know he is near. To lament is to acknowledge difficulty, but it also acknowledges that God is present, available and will respond. To lament is to surrender our fears about our situation to God. St. Ignatius, himself, understood lament as he kneeled before the Madonna in Montserrat, agonizing over his former life of violence and philandering. What areas of our lives today warrant lament?
—Terresa M. Ford, M.Div., MFA is a hospice chaplain and an Ignatian spiritual director who provides pastoral care both in person and virtually. Terresa has written for the Black Catholic Messenger, preached for Catholic Women Preach and offered Contemplatios for Ignatius House Jesuit Retreat Center in Sandy Springs, Georgia. Terresa is a member of Assisi Community, a Catholic community dedicated to the works of non-violence and social justice, based in Washington, D.C.
Prayer
Loving God we rely on you for everything. You hold us together even when we feel we are falling apart. Heed our prayers, be our sustainer, and see us through our turmoil with the assurance that you are on the other side of it. In your merciful name we pray, Jesus. Amen.
—Terresa M. Ford
Pray with the Pope
The Holy Father’s Monthly Prayer Intentions Brought to you by Apostleship of Prayer the first Friday of each month.