For better understanding, I suggest you read the gospel for today's mass on which my homily is based. And if a video doesn't appear below, click here.
That temple in Jerusalem - the one Jesus said would crumble stone by stone, the one adorned with costly gems – that temple was indeed destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D. And Jesus' prediction of the persecution of believers also came to pass around the same time. Luke's gospel was written around 85 AD. So the text here refers to events that Jesus predicts - but have already taken place. This gospel, then, is less a crystal ball for looking into the future, and much more magnifying lens to help Luke's audience see more clearly and grapple more confidently with their present situation.
We might do well in our own present times to consider the disasters that are at hand for us. Even 2,000 years after Jesus spoke of wars, insurrections, earthquakes, famines, and plagues - they're still with us. And people of faith are still seized and persecuted - and some put to death. Most of us haven’t experienced that yet – but…
• Something like the collapse of personal security upon losing your job may be as real for us as was the fall of the temple in the first century.
• For some, betrayal by those closest to us (spouses, family, friends) might be the most painful, disaster we experience.
• For many, the onset of chronic or catastrophic illness might be the event that topples our sense of well-being and safety.
• Surveying the geopolitical situations around the globe is more than enough to unsettle our security and frighten us about the future of the world.
As it was when Luke wrote his gospel, we need not look to the future for such things to happen - today has trouble enough of its own.
Let me suggest, then, that we call to mind whatever our own calamities and problems and fears might be tonight, here in San Zepherin Church in Wayland, in 2025.
What are the calamities and fears we experience in our families, in our nation, in our lives, in our minds and our hearts? To just those situations in our lives, Jesus says four things tonight in the gospel. I'd liken them to four gems embedded there, in the gospel - just like the precious stones that decorated the walls of the temple. Those four jewels from Jesus:
• Don't be deceived…
• Don't be afraid…
• I will give you a wisdom…
• By your perseverance, you will secure your lives…
In whatever confusion or conflict, whatever depression or disaster we find ourselves tonight, Jesus says… Don't be deceived. Many will come promising what only I can give, and you'll be tempted to think that I've abandoned you have forgotten you. You'll wonder: what did you do, what did you do to deserve such suffering? But don't be deceived. I am never (says Jesus) I am never the source of your suffering. I come to you only with healing and mercy and strength. I come to be with you to take your hand and to lead you through the darkest of your days…
And to us in our fears, Jesus says:
Don't be afraid. Don't be terrified. There's nothing you can't face if you stand with me. I'll stand by you in everything that comes your way. I will not abandon you. I'll be your courage when you are frightened. I'll be your strength, when yours is exhausted. I'll be your guide when you are lost…
And in our doubt and confusion, Jesus assures us:
I'll give you wisdom. I'll help you understand. When you're conflicted, I'll give you my counsel. When you don't know what to do, I'll lead you to the truth. When nothing makes sense, when everything's too complex, too hard, when you're at your wits' end - come to me. And in the simplicity of my heart's mercy and peace find a place to rest in my arms. Come to me…
And in our hopelessness, Jesus says:
By your perseverance, you will secure your lives. You're never alone. I'm always at your side. When you run out of hope for tomorrow, trust in me for today. When the future seems impossible - trust that it's in my hands. Put your hand in mine, and together, we'll walk: one a day at a time, an hour at a time, a minute at a time. Stay with me and I will stay with you. By your perseverance you will secure your lives.
Well, the scriptures are clear today that in every age there are signs all around us that the end time will come, that a day of judgment will face all of us. But for those who trust in the Lord, who live by his word, who seek his mercy, the Son of justice will arise with healing in its saving light. That healing is ours not only at the end of time, but even now for those who listen for the Lord and hear him say: Don't be deceived. Don't be afraid. I'll give you wisdom. By your perseverance, you will secure your lives.
Whatever burdens you and I came to mass with this evening, now is the time to lay them down at the foot of the cross, to put them on the altar of sacrifice, where Jesus gives us in the Eucharist: the companionship, the courage, the wisdom, and the hope to live a day at a time in his mercy and in his peace.
So.. don't be deceived… don't be afraid… Jesus will give you wisdom… and by your perseverance, you will secure your lives…
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