Behold, your house will be abandoned

31 OCTOBER (Lk 13, 31-35)

Israel knows what it means, “Behold, your house is left to you.” When the Lord went out of his house, out of his temple, out of his city, in Jerusalem and in all the territory of Judea the hell of destruction and devastation took place. Who wants to know this temporary hell occurred on our earth it is sufficient he reads, meditates and contemplates the Book of Lamentations.

How lonely she is now, the once crowded city! Widowed is she who was mistress over nations; The princess among the provinces has been made a toiling slave. Bitterly she weeps at night, tears upon her cheeks, With not one to console her of all her dear ones; Her friends have all betrayed her and become her enemies. Judah has fled into exile from oppression and cruel slavery; Yet where she lives among the nations she finds no place to rest: All her persecutors come upon her where she is narrowly confined. The roads to Zion mourn for lack of pilgrims going to her feasts; All her gateways are deserted, her priests groan, Her virgins sigh; she is in bitter grief. Her foes are uppermost, her enemies are at ease; The Lord has punished her for her many sins. Her little ones have gone away, captive before the foe. Gone from daughter Zion is all her glory: Her princes, like rams that find no pasture, Have gone off without strength before their captors. Jerusalem is mindful of the days of her wretched homelessness, When her people fell into enemy hands, and she had no one to help her; When her foes gloated over her, laughed at her ruin. Through the sin of which she is guilty, Jerusalem is defiled; All who esteemed her think her vile now that they see her nakedness; She herself groans and turns away. Her filth is on her skirt; she gave no thought how she would end. Astounding is her downfall, with no one to console her. Look, O Lord, upon her misery, for the enemy has triumphed! The foe stretched out his hand to all her treasures; She has seen those nations enter her sanctuary Whom you forbade to come into your assembly. All her people groan, searching for bread; They give their treasures for food, to retain the breath of life. “Look O Lord, and see how worthless I have become! “Come, all you who pass by the way, look and see Whether there is any suffering like my suffering, which has been dealt me When the Lord afflicted me on the day of his blazing wrath. “From on high he sent fire down into my very frame; He spread a net for my feet, and overthrew me. He left me desolate, in pain all the day (Lam 1,1-13).

Only one can thwart, overcome and break down the powers of evil: the Lord. But he needs a shield or chest protector and a good armour: the loyalty of his children to his Word, the unconditional listening to it. When Israel obeys, there are no enemies for him. When he does not obey even a simple fly is capable of causing total destruction. Israel’s strength is its faithfulness to the Word.

At that time some Pharisees came to him and said, “Go away, leave this area because Herod wants to kill you.” He replied, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and I perform healings today and tomorrow, and on the third day I accomplish my purpose. Yet I must continue on my way today, tomorrow, and the following day, for it is impossible that a prophet should die outside of Jerusalem.’ “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how many times I yearned to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were unwilling! Behold, your house will be abandoned. (But) I tell you, you will not see me until (the time comes when) you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'”

Jesus, the Living Word of the Father, came, but he was rejected, condemned, delivered and crucified. The veil of the temple is torn in two, God abandons his temple. He goes with Christ, whose body is his new temple. Jerusalem remains without any protection. God is no longer its guardian. What will the end of it be? A total and complete destruction. It is not the power of Rome the one to destroy Jerusalem. Instead, it is its weakness, its sin, its infidelity to its God. It is not the power of evil what destroys the Church. It is the infidelity of the Church that destroys her. The Church is destroyed for the sin of her children. It has always been sin the one to tear the Church.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels and Saints make us sinless.