Who is so deaf or so blind as he that willfully will neither hear nor see?

The difference between perseverance and obstinacy is that one often comes from a strong will, and the other from a strong won't. - Henry Ward Beecher (American clergyman and social reformer)

Gospel Text: (LK 19:41-44)
As Jesus drew near Jerusalem,
he saw the city and wept over it, saying,
“If this day you only knew what makes for peace–
but now it is hidden from your eyes.
For the days are coming upon you
when your enemies will raise a palisade against you;
they will encircle you and hem you in on all sides.
They will smash you to the ground and your children within you,
and they will not leave one stone upon another within you
because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”

An inability to see or imagine God's presence and movement in our world is not restricted to the religious leaders of Jesus' time. It is an experience that can and often does touch us all. Its sources are varied: complacence, cynicism, self-righteousness, fear, disappointment, loss, sin, to name just a few. None of us are immune from the blindness fostered by such experiences. Just like the religious leaders of Jesus' time, we can end up trapped by our unbelieving heart.

Today's reading invite us to think about what is going on in our lives of faith. Are we still struggling with past experiences that have kept us from seeing God's movement in our lives or accepting God's invitation to trust more deeply? The Eucharist reminds us that the power of the Lamb to reveal God's presence and action remains strong as we remember Christ's gift of himself for our sake.