Lk 21:5-19
Dear Parishioners, As the Church Year draws to a rapid conclusion, the Gospel message is once again a story of the end. Last week it was a personal ending. This week it is the end of the world.Luke’s description in today’s Gospel is the destruction of the Temple. It is the first of three destructions in this chapter of Luke. The next two are of Jerusalem (Lk 21:20-24) and the world (Lk 21:25-28).
This passage addresses the early Christians and us. Our first ancestors in the faith expected a quick and almost effortless passage to glory on their acceptance of Christ as Savior. No such luck. Rejection, conflict and persecution shortly followed their conversion. Slowly they had to delve more deeply into the Gospel message to find meaning in their new puzzling, and at times, frightening world.
It is the same for us. We come to Jesus seeking comfort and soon much of our new world is caught in the challenge of walking with Jesus on the road to Jerusalem.
Jesus’ message today is that the struggle will continue to the end. Our journey of discipleship is only possible in his footsteps on the road to Jerusalem where death gives way to life. Good and evil will be our daily fare until the end. Whether it be the call to martyrdom or dealing with the in-laws, whether it is the loss of a child or the aging process, whether it is a loved one lost in a destructive addiction or the crisis of a Church floundering in search of the Gospel, the weeds and the wheat will be the stuff of our experience till the end.
Jesus’ message is very clear about what we should do when the end is at hand. We do not need to store up food and supplies in our bunker on the mountain or in the basement. What we need to do is continue to serve and love our brothers and sisters in the context of our life’s responsibilities.
When our little world, locked into prejudice, is threatened when immigrants are no longer convenient, we need to seek justice that recognizes their humanity and inherent dignity and rights. When our world of stereotype and distortion is crushed by the emersion of gays as equal in our humanity we need to flee from our fear and ignorance to a new heart filled with compassion and acceptance. There are many of our worlds that will continue to crumble as we embrace the light of the Gospel. In the process we need to be faithful to the struggle on the journey to Jerusalem.
The word Jesus has for us today is that the grace is in the struggle. Yet, the comfort Jesus assures us is gradually perceived in a growing awareness of a loving presence. Slowly we grasp that we have been lifted up on eagles’ wings. The dangers that have haunted us somehow fade into oblivion. Jesus calls us to persevere, to be patient, to be faithful as we experience the destruction our little worlds of comfort and prejudice on the way towards the end of the world. When we will be hated because of His Name we are called to stay faithful. We need not be afraid. He guarantees “not a hair on your head will be destroyed. By your perseverance you will be saved”. (Lk 21:19)
In Christ, Fr.
Tracy O’Sullivan, O. Carm.
