November 13^th 2016.Thirty Third Sunday of Ordinary Time

GOSPEL: Luke 21:5-19

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading ...

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GOSPEL: Luke 21:5-19

When some were talking about the Temple, remarking how it was adorned with fine stonework and votive offerings, Jesus said, ‘All these things you are staring at now - the time will come when not a single stone will be left on another: everything will be destroyed’. And they put to him this question: ‘Master,’ they said ‘when will this happen, then, and what sign will there be that this is about to take place?’

‘Take care not to be deceived,’ he said ‘because many will come using my name and saying, “I am he” and, “The time is near at hand”. Refuse to join them. And when you hear of wars and revolutions, do not be frightened, for this is something that must happen but the end is not so soon.’ Then he said to them, ‘Nation will fight against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes and plagues and famines here and there; there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven.

‘But before all this happens, men will seize you and persecute you; they will hand you over to the synagogues and to imprisonment, and bring you before kings and governors because of my name – and that will be your opportunity to bear witness. Keep this carefully in mind: you are not to prepare your defence, because I myself shall give you an eloquence and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to resist or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relations and friends; and some of you will be put to death. You will be hated by all men on account of my name, but not a hair of your head will be lost. Your endurance will win you your lives.”

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

Kieran’s summary . . . In the Gospel, Jesus talks about great upheaval and disasters, the destruction of the Temple and the persecution of Christians. What is he referring to? The passage can legitimately be interpreted to refer to three things. Firstly it speaks of the great upheaval that will come at the end of the world. Secondly, it predicts the destruction of the Temple and the persecution of the early Christian communities in the early centuries. Thirdly, it is to be applied to the daily battle that you and I are required to engage in as baptized Christians. We tend to reduce Christianity to an easy and affable religion, a pleasant way of life that concentrates on each of us trying to be good people. Christianity may well involve us becoming better people, but it is fundamentally a transforming relationship with God. To be a Christian we must be people of heaven, people who ground their existence fundamentally in God.  To live as a Christian I must undergo radical conversion every day, and this involves the destruction of the current order of my life. It involves upheaval and the renunciation of my idols and fixations. The disciples are impressed with the visible grandeur of the Temple, but Jesus wishes to tell us that the things our eyes see will not be left standing, not a stone upon a stone. Similarly, we are not to listen to the deceptions and lies that the world whispers to us. We are to single-mindedly follow the will of God. Certainly, this will involve trauma and upheaval, but Jesus tells us not to fear; not a hair on our heads will be harmed! By this he means that every little thing that happens to us is part of God’s design to lead us into a better and wonderful state of life. Yes, we will be betrayed. Yes, we will be left isolated. But all of this is part of God’s plan to draw us towards him, to root our existence in following his holy will.

This passage is to be read on three levels. It refers to the end of the world, to the destruction of the Temple and the early persecution of Christians, but also to the daily struggle of each one of us as we seek to detach ourselves from the deceits and illusions of the earthly order.

On this thirty third Sunday of Ordinary Time, the Gospel is serious and austere. It speaks of great suffering, the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, and of the end of the age. What is this passage referring to? Is it speaking of the Last Judgement, when Christ will judge the living and the dead? Yes, the passage is surely speaking remotely of the end times, but fundamentally it is speaking of the great tribulation that faces the Christian in every age. The words of Jesus begin with a reflection on the edifice of the Temple in Jerusalem and of the fact that the Temple will be destroyed. He goes on to speak of suffering, tribulation and betrayal. Ought we to live in fear of these things? In reality, there are three levels on which this passage can be understood. Firstly, it speaks of the end of the world, a time of great upheaval when the powers of this earth will come to an end.  Secondly, the passage predicts the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem and the terrifying ordeals that would have to be faced by the Christians of the first century A.D. These persecutions would also be glorious because the early disciples would bear witness to the faith. Thirdly, and more pertinently for you and me, this text is applicable to the combat we engage in daily as a result of our baptism. The battle of the “Day of the Lord” is the battle we are called to when we are born again in Christ. This battle entails that there are things in our lives that must collapse and be lost. There are deceptions that must come to an end. Christians of the early centuries risked their lives when they bore public witness to their faith. Everyone who wants to attain true life and enter the Kingdom of heaven must destroy a part of themselves in order to save their own hearts. This leads to separations and renunciations. We tend to make Christianity into something easy and pleasant. We confuse being a Christian with being a good person. Of course a Christian will also be a good person, but more basically he will be a man of heaven, a woman who comes from the Lord, who has the heart of God. Every day, in every moment of conversion, I am asked to live the “Day of the Lord”. I am asked to engage in combat and live a situation of conflict, directed against my life as I would like to organise it, against my idols, my impoverishment.

Jesus tells us not to trust the testimony of the eyes or the ears. We are to follow something else, something hidden from the human senses. Our Christian existence may well lead to desolation and betrayal, but this is all part of God’s hidden plan to lead us to authentic life

The disciples are marvelling at the beautiful stones and votive offerings of the Temple. Jesus replies, “Of what you are looking at, not one stone will be left standing upon another”. Jesus is contesting the beauty and permanence of that which is before their eyes. When each one of us begins the process of conversion, we start to have less faith in that which the eyes see. We no longer see the vainglory of this world and we begin to perceive something else. We begin to appreciate the beauty and significance of something which resides in another place entirely, before the throne of God. Jesus then goes on to tell the disciples not to allow themselves to be deceived. Here Jesus moves from the sense of vision to that of hearing. We will hear many things but we are not to trust any of them. In other words, there are people who only trust the evidence of their eyes, and they only perk up their ears only when they hear something that touches upon their human anxieties, projections and fears; but we are called to follow only the work of God. The passage says that “men will seize you and persecute you; they will hand you over to the synagogues and to imprisonment, and bring you before kings and governors because of my name – and that will be your opportunity to bear witness”. In other words, the meaning of everything is to be turned upside down; every event is part of the secret design of God. Even in the greatest tribulations, God brings our salvation towards completion. The “Day of the Lord” may well be terrible, but its goal is our salvation. That day may well involve betrayal and isolation, but it is always directed towards our happiness, towards the construction of true and authentic lives.

The upheavals that are part and parcel of the Christian life are all a call to radically ground ourselves in God. Never fear! Not a hair on our heads will be harmed! What Jesus means by this has nothing to do with the physical hair on our heads. What he means is that every little thing is part of God’s plan for our good. All we have to do is reject the things of this passing world and follow the holy will of God.

We are surrounded by terrible tragedies and bad news. These disasters cause us anguish, but they are all opportunities to love. All of these events are actually demanding a right response from us. Instead of being terrorized or rendered immobile with fear, we are called to open ourselves to love in every moment, to be witnesses to God, to be part of his plan in the world. We are called to treat every occasion as an opportunity to encounter God. History unfolds before us as a wise teacher that frees us gradually from our illusions. Being betrayed and left alone is all part of the cultivation of the interior life. We must learn not to depend on anyone but God, the author of life. Everything that concerns us as human beings is grave and serious. As the Gospel tells us, not a hair on our head will be lost. Everything that regards us is for our salvation. We must be prepared for the end of the world, of course, for dramatic upheavals in the history of the world; but also personally, on a daily basis, we must be ready to leave behind everything that we are attached to, in order to follow the holy will of God.