The first Lenten peregrination was held on Thirsday 20 March, at the Franciscan shrine of Dominus Flevit, on the Mount of Olives. Here, the friars of the Custody of the Holy Land meditated on the mystery of Jesus weeping, which is remembered in this place.
The Lenten peregrinations are weekly liturgical celebrations which are held in Jerusalem and the surroundings, in the places linked to the events of the Passion of Christ. During this liturgical time, Christians have the chance to experience a path of special meditation, stopping in prayer in the places of the Passion.
The shrine of Dominus Flevit
The shrine of Dominus Flevit (literally, “the Lord wept”) stands on the spot where Jesus wept over Jerusalem, prophesizing its destruction, as the evangelist Luke describes (Luke 19,41-44). The shrine was built in 1950. The project was by the architect Antonio Barluzzi on a commission by the Franciscans. The shape of the building recalls that of a teardrop, in reference to the tears shed by Jesus.
“God has wept”
The celebration of the Eucharist was presided over by Fra Johnny Jallouf, deputy parish priest of St Saviour and concelebrated by Fra Piermarco Luciano, vicar of the fraternity of St Saviour and by Fra Sebastiano Eclimes, superior of the shrine of Dominus Flevit.
This year, the homilies of the peregrinations have been entrusted to Fra Ulise Zarza, a teacher at the International Franciscan Seminary of Jerusalem and lecturer in patristics at the Studium Theologicum Jerosylmitanum.
In his homily, Fra Ulise dwelled on the mystery of Jesus weeping over Jerusalem. “He cries over it. Jesus certainly cried when he was a child in Bethlehem and he cried for his friend Lazarus; his weeping now, however, is different. The reason for the Son of God’s weeping is the rejection of his infinite love by men because they have not recognized the time when they were visited.”
A single Lord, a single faith
This year marks the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea (325): the homilies of Fra Ulise will make constant reference to this historic event, when faith in God who is three in one and in Jesus Christ, the Son of God incarnate, the true God and real man, was expressed and established.
“We will meditate on the Gospel in the light of the teachings of Nicaea, in particular those left by the Fathers of the Church”, Fra Ulise explained. “During the Lenten peregrinations, we will be visiting the places of the Lord’s Passion, we will listen to the evangelical passage of reference and we will read it in a more ecclesial perspective according to the teachings of Nicaea.”
At the end of the peregrinations, all the homilies will be collected and published in a single booklet. “The idea of making them available comes from the desire to make everyone aware that the message left by Nicaea 1700 years ago is extremely up to date,” Fra Ulise concluded.
By Lucia Borgato | custodia
Source Link: https://www.custodia.org/en/news/jesus-weeping-over-jerusalem/
