Memorial of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary,
religious
(Revelation
5:1-10; Luke 19:41-44)
Political cartoonist Bill Maudlin captured the people’s
imagination. His characterization of foot-soldiers Willie and Joe during World
War II etched a trail of admiration in the American mind for the G.I. However, a single cartoon drawn twenty years
after the war ended had even greater impact.
After President Kennedy was assassinated, Mauldin drew a cartoon of the
Lincoln Memorial. Instead of a straight back
Lincoln stolidly looking forward, Mauldin drew the sixteenth president bent
over crying in his hands. It was the way
the whole nation felt. Lincoln’s tears are
reminiscent of Jesus’ in today’s gospel.
Jesus cries over Jerusalem for not heeding his call to
repentance. Jerusalem, David’s capital
city, is symbolic of the whole world. Most
people follow their egotistic designs rather than Jesus’ example of humility
and commandment of love. Wars never seem
to end because egotism turns violent when a national ego does not get its way.
We must learn to curb our egos – both individual and corporate. It is certain that with nuclear weapons the
world cannot sustain another total war.
If World War II was not the last total war, then World War III
definitely will be.
