THE WEEPING JESUS

"Coming within sight of the city, he (Jesus) wept over it and said: "If only you had known the path to peace this day but you have completely lost it from view! Days will come upon you when your enemies encircle you with a rampart, hem you in, and press you hard from every side. They will wipe you out, you and your children, and leave not a stone on a stone within you, because you failed to recognize the time of your visitation." --Luke 20: 41-44.

Let's reflect on these words for a moment.

The image of Jesus weeping over Jerusalem reminds me of a story I read some time ago in the POINTS TO PONDER section of The Reader's Digest. It tells of an elderly man weeping at the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial in Washington.

A young man, moved by the sight, walks over to the old man, puts his hand on his shoulder and gently asks: "One of yours, Sir?" The old man answers softly: " Not ONE of them, son! ALL of them."

Today, weeping is heard in Afghanistan, in Iraq, in Palestine, in Israel, in places of unrest throughout the world, thousands weeping for mwmbers of their families who have lost their lives. It is natural to weep for the innocent, for the victims; but, who weeps for the terrorists, the suicide bombers, the Saddams, the Osamma Bin Ladens?

A dialogue from "Raisin in the Sun" jolted me into deeper reflection on God's all-embracing love. Mamma is chiding her daughter about forgiveness: "There is always something left to love. And if you ain't learned that, you ain't learned nothing. Have you cried for that boy today? ... Child, when do you think is the time to love somebody the most? When they done good and made things easier for everybody? Well, then, you ain't through learning --because that's not the time at all. It's when he's at his lowest … When you starts measuring somebody, measure him right, child, measure him right. Make sure you done taken into account what hills and valleys he come through before he got to wherever he is!"

God's love is like this. For us, this is hard, really hard. But, if we don't love them, ALL of them, pray for them, weep for them, who will?

And coming within sight of the city, Jesus wept over it and said: " If only you had known the path to peace this day…"

Let us share God's peace with one another during this Easter season, and always!

FAMILY TIME

Well, its been a few days since I have made a blog. We had family around last weekend and this week. We all had a great time. Below are some pictures (they say a picture is worth a 1000 words - you decide!).

Tim Hortons Brier Final - NL vs ON

This evening the final should be a great one with Newfoundland & Labrador playing Ontario.

GO NEWFIES GO!

Punta Cana...Great Week!!!

We had a great time of fun and relaxation! Temperature was 81 - 85 F all week...great break in the middle of winter. Came back to -30 C...what a wake-up!

More pictures to follow....

A LENTEN REFLECTION.....

Give up complaining; focus on gratitude.

Give up pessimism; become an optimist.

Give up harsh judgments; think kindly thoughts.

Give up worry; trust Divine Providence.

Give up discouragement; be full of hope.

Give up bitterness; turn to forgiveness.

Give up hatred; return good for evil.

Give up negativism; be positive.

Give up anger; be more patient.

Give up pettiness; become mature.

Give up gloom; enjoy the beauty that is all around you.

Give up jealousy; pray for trust.

Give up gossiping; control your tongue.

Give up sin; turn to virtue.

Give up giving up; hang in there!


-- Author Unknown