Gospel: Luke 21:5-19
Year C
The Temple that you are thinking about, not one of its stones will remain on another …..
Lord, You Who admired the beauty of flowers in the field and invited us to consider them (Mt.6:29), were You insensitive to the beauty of the work of human hands, to the beauty of the Temple? What a cold shower for Your disciples and for all of those who heard You! It was almost a blasphemy in the eyes of the Jews that You spoke like this. Will You be numbered among the prophets of doom?
Certainly, You announce doom, but it is not to make us live in fear. You want to put us on guard against the dangers which surround us and You invite us to trust.
We risk only remembering what amazes us and not paying attention to what is essential, to the message on which You insist:
– do not let yourselves be led astray by false prophets…
– do not be frightened on hearing of wars or natural catastrophes
– do not worry about your defence against persecution …
– I will give you an eloquence and wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to resist or contradict…
– Not a hair of your head will be lost….
What calls to trust!
All the things that you are looking at, days will come when nothing of them will remain….
You have no disdain for the Temple; it is Your Father’s house (Lk.2:49) You chased the merchants out of it one day so that it would be a “House of prayer” … But You invite us to stick to what is essential, to stick with God alone. This is what should guide us in our choices on this earth where everything passes…. Even if the Temple is destroyed, the relationship with God is not severed. The Jewish people, Your people Lord, is a living example of that: despite the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem, almost 2000 years ago, they remain the people of the Covenant.
Let us persevere in our quest for the essential, in the love of Him Who, alone, can fill our hearts. Your endurance will win you your lives.
