Tuesday 23 November 2021

Today is Tuesday the 23 November, in the 34th week of Ordinary time.
 
One Hope Project sings, ‘My Soul Rests’.
 
Today’s reading is from the Gospel of Luke.
 
 
Luke 21:5-11
 
When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, he said, “As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down.”
 
They asked him, “Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?” And he said, “Beware that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and, ‘The time is near!’ Do not go after them.
 
“When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately.” Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven.
 
Forty years after Jesus’s death, Jerusalem and the Temple were totally destroyed by the Romans. For many of the Jews, this must have seemed like the end of the world as they knew it. Are there signs around you now that aspects of your world may not last much longer?
 
Part of Jesus’s response can be summarised as “Don’t panic!”. How does this sound in the light of global warming, the extinction of species and the continuing destruction of the natural environment?
 
Wars and insurrections; uprisings and earthquakes; famines and plagues. What kind of response should a Christian make to news of these happenings?
 
As you listen again, try and get a sense of how Jesus responds to the difficult times that he sees ahead.
 
In these final moments of today’s prayer, ask Jesus for whatever gifts you need to face the kinds of difficulty that he describes here.
 

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.