It is interesting that as one ages, patience takes on a different meaning than when we were young. Things had to happen quicker in our early years because there was so much of life that needed to be experienced. Waiting slowed our pace and caused us to possibly miss something which might be helpful to get ahead in our lives. Consideration for taking time to learn what we wanted or needed to know was less important because we could pick it up on the fly; or so we thought.
Patient endurance is a main theme of our readings and Gospel today. It goes against our instincts and needs constant nurturing to be useful in our day-to-day instances, as well as to avoid frustration and anxiety. And, yet, without this fruit of the Spirit we would find it difficult to live the life for which God created us: To live each day fully in the company of Jesus.
In here lies the crux of our dilemma. We focus on the life we want to live now, with emphasis on what our future will be. By doing this, we balance our life by fitting Christianity in when it is convenient as opposed to necessary at all times. There is no future beyond the life we live on this earth without practicing our faith in Jesus who died on the cross for our sins and rose from the dead to give us the gift of everlasting life. Our Baptism commitment to love God above all and all His creation as Jesus loves us becomes an empty promise because it won’t be practiced constantly. In essence, we forfeit eternal life with God.
The Prophet Malachi, though writing to the Jewish community just returned from captivity in Babylon, gives them and us a message that the only way to live forever with God is to base one’s life on being loyal to His truth. All must spend their lives in the service of God seeking the well-being of one another as opposed to complaining about one’s behavior and who is to be considered just in the eyes of God. Those who do so will receive God’s healing.
St. Paul continues the theme of patient endurance in his Second Letter to the Thessalonians as it relates to Christ’s return to earth at the end of time. The Thessalonians believed it would be soon so people were quitting their jobs and enticing others to do the same. They believed it didn’t make sense to work if Christ was returning in their lifetime. St. Paul uses the argument that timing of something that may take place after one has passed is unfair because all are supposed to contribute to the wellbeing of the community for as long as they are together, no matter how long that is.
As per usual, Jesus in St. Luke’s Gospel clarifies that a great deal of time will pass in which a multitude of things will happen before the earth will end and he returns. He cites false prophets, wars, insurrections, earthquakes, famines, plagues, awesome sights, mighty signs in the sky, persecutions by leaders and even one’s own families, as well as not preparing a defense, but relying on God to give us words of wisdom to speak.
During this time, He tells His disciples and us not to be deceived and terrified. Just as Jesus suffered on our behalf, we too are called to be persecuted because of our belief in God’s truth with patient endurance. To be ready for this, we live fully with God and for God at every moment of every day.
We can do this by personal prayer, living the Gospel message so it permeates everything we say or do and by learning to find Jesus, to love and respond to Him in every person, in every place and in every experience of our daily life.
No matter when Jesus comes to take us away, we will be more than ready because we will be practicing patient endurance.
Reading 1: Malachi 3: 19-20a
Reading 2: Second Thessalonians 3: 7-12
Gospel: Luke 21: 5-19
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