Wednesday of the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time

November 26, 2008

Reading 1
Rv 15:1-4

I, John, saw in heaven another sign, great and awe-inspiring:
seven angels with the seven last plagues,
for through them God’s fury is accomplished.

Then I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire.
On the sea of glass were standing those
who had won the victory over the beast
and its image and the number that signified its name.
They were holding God’s harps,
and they sang the song of Moses, the servant of God,
and the song of the Lamb:

“Great and wonderful are your works,
Lord God almighty.
Just and true are your ways,
O king of the nations.
Who will not fear you, Lord,
or glorify your name?
For you alone are holy.
All the nations will come
and worship before you,
for your righteous acts have been revealed.”

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 98:1, 2-3ab, 7-8, 9

R. (Rev. 15: 3b) Great and wonderful are all your works, Lord, mighty God!
Sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done wondrous deeds;
His right hand has won victory for him,
his holy arm.
R. Great and wonderful are all your works, Lord, mighty God!
The LORD has made his salvation known:
in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice.
He has remembered his kindness and his faithfulness
toward the house of Israel.
R. Great and wonderful are all your works, Lord, mighty God!
Let the sea and what fills it resound,
the world and those who dwell in it;
Let the rivers clap their hands,
the mountains shout with them for joy.
R. Great and wonderful are all your works, Lord, mighty God!
Before the LORD, for he comes,
for he comes to rule the earth;
He will rule the world with justice
and the peoples with equity.
R. Great and wonderful are all your works, Lord, mighty God!

Gospel
Lk 21:12-19

Jesus said to the crowd:
“They will seize and persecute you,
they will hand you over to the synagogues and to prisons,
and they will have you led before kings and governors
because of my name.
It will lead to your giving testimony.
Remember, you are not to prepare your defense beforehand,
for I myself shall give you a wisdom in speaking
that all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute.
You will even be handed over by parents,v brothers, relatives, and friends,
and they will put some of you to death.
You will be hated by all because of my name,
but not a hair on your head will be destroyed.
By your perseverance you will secure your lives.”

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The Daily Reflection

November 26th 2008
by: Tom Bannantine, S.J.

Daily Reflection readers for the past week will know that the gospel reading for today is part of St. Luke’s account of Jesus’ discourse about the end times. In today’s reading Jesus speaks of the persecution that many of the faithful will undergo before the end of their life here on earth. In my reading and meditating upon this gospel, I was struck by the final sentence. “By your perseverance you will secure your lives.” The word perseverance has a special connotation for me as one who has been a Jesuit for more than 50 years. From my earliest years as a Jesuit my classmates and I were exhorted to pray for the grace to remain faithful to our vows, in other words to persevere. Those exhortations have resonated with me throughout the years and they are still very powerful. By the grace of God many of us have been successful until now in our prayers for perseverance.

But I don’t think that the words of Jesus about perseverance were addressed just to us or to any one group. The words of Jesus are timeless and are addressed to any persons of any age who will listen and hear them. They are addressed to me and to you and to all who read these reflections and all who read St. Luke’s gospel. These words tell us that if we persevere, that is if we faithfully follow the words and teaching of Jesus, we will be saved. We may suffer in this life, but we will attain eternal happiness in the next.

Jesus also talks about the trials and sufferings that come with persecution. The words: “you are not to prepare your defense beforehand” remind me of the example of so many martyrs. Their stories show us how human they were. They reacted with fear in the face of torture and death. They found it difficult to find words to defend themselves. Yet over and over again the stories of martyrs show us that Jesus gave them a wisdom that confounded their persecutors. Today they provide us with a powerful example of fidelity to the words and teaching of Jesus. And their stories impress upon us that Jesus is faithful to his promises.

Today those of us reading the words of Jesus about perseverance may not be destined for martyrdom, but we are all called to heed the words of Jesus. We are called to persevere in following Jesus and to secure our lives in the happiness of heaven.

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