A Homily on Luke 19:41-44 : If Only We Listened (20-11-25)

A heartfelt reflection on Luke 19:41-44, Jesus weeping over Jerusalem, calling us to listen to God before we lose the blessings meant for us.(20-11-25)

Praise be to Jesus Christ 

There was once a football coach who loved his team like his own family. Among all the boys there was one who had a special gift. His legs moved with such speed and his eyes understood the game even before the coach explained it. Everyone said that he could rise to great heights one day if he continued to grow. But the boy had one great weakness. He did not like to listen. He skipped practice. He spoke carelessly. He stayed out late at night and came to the field without strength. One day during an important practice he again behaved in the same careless way. The coach felt a deep pain in his heart. He walked to the boy and told him to leave the field. The boy walked away with anger, but the coach turned to another staff member and said quietly, “I did this with great pain. If he had listened and changed his life he could have become a world class player. But his own choices are destroying the gift that God placed in him.”

When I read today’s Gospel, Luke chapter 19: 41- 44, I feel the same sorrow in the heart of Jesus. The Gospel says that Jesus looked at Jerusalem and wept. He looked at the city the same way that the coach looked at the boy. Jerusalem was the chosen place. God had walked with this people from the time of Abraham. God brought them out of Egypt through Moses, God gave them kings and prophets, God gave them the temple and He gave them every chance to know HIS love and follow HIS ways. Still their hearts were often closed, they ran behind pride. They forgot mercy and they did not recognise the time of God’s visit.

This is why Jesus wept and His tears were not the tears of anger. They were the tears of a parent who sees his child walking towards danger. They were the tears of a shepherd who has tried again and again to guide the sheep. The story of the Old Testament and the Gospel meet in this moment: God always calls, God always warns, God always waits. But when we do not listen, we harm ourselves.

We may think this story is only about a great city in the Bible. But it is also about our own homes. Sometimes God looks at our families and feels the same pain. He sees how prayer slowly disappears from the house. He sees how the rosary is forgotten. He sees how small fights grow inside the family and nobody takes the first step to say sorry. He sees how many young people go far from Sunday Mass and far from good friends who help their soul. Like the football player, the talent is there. The love of God is there. But the listening is missing.

So this Gospel invites us to do one simple thing. Let us listen. Let us listen to God who speaks through Scripture. Let us listen to the gentle voice that calls us to pray before sleep. Let us listen to those moments when God reminds us to forgive. If we listen, we will save our home from many tears.

 Lord Jesus, give me the grace to listen to your words always.