34th Week in Ord. Time, Tuesday – 24th November 2020 — Gospel: Lk 21,5-11
Abiding Assurance of Father’s Love
To his list of occurrences that precede the end of the world, Jesus names a long list of problems that sound all too familiar to us: earthquakes, famines, and plagues, wars, and the overthrow of what seems so powerful. There is nothing particularly specific about Jesus’ predictions here. We will misread 21,7-11 if we think Jesus is describing a specific set of calamities. Every age has its own false prophets, wars, natural catastrophes, and so on. However, his council in the face of this upheaval is brief: “Do not be terrified.” The believers should keep their trust in God even when facing the most challenging of circumstances. When the existing state of affairs seems to be deteriorating and conflict is sweeping peace way; when disaster and rumor are headlines, how are we not to fear? Heeding Jesus command requires discipline, practice, self-control, and especially, a deep, abiding assurance of the Father’s love. In the midst of these dreadful events, the disciples should not be terrified and think that they indicate the end of the world. Instead, we should trust that God remains present in our lives.
