14 Nov Thursday

We are so attached to the things of this world. It is so beautiful. The works of our hands are beautiful. Yet, in light of the reign of God, all these things are nothing, and what little they are, that too will pass away.

First Jesus issues a warning neither to follow the false prophets and messiahs, nor to be disturbed bye natural disasters or political upheaval. People of every historical time and place have seen such things. Yet now we sense that something is different about this round of climate change. They changes are not natural, but rather human caused, and therefore potentially human resolved. In any event, Jesus is not condoning some kind of complacency.

All this will mean persecution for the Church. The good news is that the persecution will be the best opportunity for testimony and witness — evangelization! Perseverance in this evangelization secures our fate into eternal life. This giving of testimony to the reality of the reign of God is the work of the Church, first and foremost.

The whole Gospel could have been today about the predicament of our own times. It should not be difficult to paint the same picture, but then lead to this work of the church. So that rather than despair or just giving up, the church remains faithful to the truth of the Gospel.