Author name: Sani Militante

Luke 21:36

Jesus, I Trust in You!

“Jesus said to his disciples: “Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life, and that day catch you by surprise like a trap. For that day will assault everyone who lives on the face of the earth.”

Reflection:

This is the final day of the liturgical year. Tomorrow begins Advent and the beginning of a new Church year. On this day, we are once again presented with a Gospel passage that points to the final coming of Christ.

In preparation for that day, the day in which we meet our Lord for judgment, Jesus points to two grave dangers that will cause our hearts to become “drowsy” and leave us unprepared. First, He says that “carousing and drunkenness” will make us unprepared. Second, He says that “the anxieties of daily life” will also leave us unprepared.

On a literal level, carousing and drunkenness means a person relies upon alcohol for satisfaction in life, and they do so by using it to live a lively and somewhat carefree life. They live for the moment and look for satisfaction in self-indulgence. And though drunkenness is specifically mentioned here, there are numerous ways that people attempt to live this way.

Everyone wants to be happy in life. We cannot not work to achieve this innate desire. No one intentionally chooses to be unhappy. However, many people regularly choose things in life that do lead to unhappiness and discontentment. But they do so with the false conviction that this or that action will satisfy.

And though there are many things that provide temporary or superficial “happiness,” the truth is that there is only one thing and one thing alone that provides the happiness and fulfillment we desire. That one thing is the presence of God alive within our souls.

The “anxieties of daily life” are also a great burden to so many. No one intentionally chooses to be anxious. No one wants to experience this form of interior disturbance. And though anxiety can come from many sources, physical, psychological and spiritual, one primary source of anxiety is stress that is not dealt with in a proper way. Stress can come from tensions at work, at home or within one’s own soul. Stress usually occurs when some difficulty is faced and reacted to with fear, confusion, anger, despair and the like.

According to Jesus, giving in to these anxieties can leave a person unprepared for the day of their judgment at the end of their life or the end of the world. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Stress and tension, and the anxiety that results from them, is most decisively cured by turning from the difficulty one experiences and turning to a deep and total trust in the providence of God.

At Mass, the priest prays after the “Our Father” that God “free us from all distress” and that we will instead “await the blessed hope and the coming of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.” Faith and hope in God and in His final coming at the end of time is the spiritual cure for the anxiety and distress we often experience in life. Trusting in our Lord, with the utmost confidence, will enable us to achieve this peaceful disposition and with joyful hope and confidence.

Reflect, today, upon those things that hinder you the most from being ready to meet our Lord. Perhaps you struggle with ongoing choices that reflect a life of “carousing and drunkenness.” Or perhaps you struggle deeply with worry, distress and anxiety.

If this is you, know that freedom awaits. It awaits you if you can only embrace and live the final prayer of this reflection: “Jesus, I trust in You.” Trust Him. Entrust your poor decisions in life to Him. Entrust your sin to Him. And entrust all of your worries and tensions that lead to an unsettled heart. As you do so, try to rest in the consoling arms of our Lord so that you will be fully prepared for that glorious day of our Lord’s judgment that awaits.

Source: https://catholic-daily-reflections.com/2023/12/01/jesus-i-trust-in-you-2/

Luke 21:36 Read More »

Saint Bibiana

Profile

Her parents, Saint Flavian of Acquapendente and Dafrosa of Acquapendente, were martyred in the persecutions of Julian the Apostate, and Vivian and her sister Demetria were turned over to a woman named Rufina who tried to force them into prostitution. Upon her continued refusal to cooperate, Vivian was imprisoned in a mad house, then flogged to death.

A church was built over her grave, in the garden of which grew an herb that cured headache and epilepsy. This and her time spent with the mentally ill led to her areas of patronage.

Born

in 4th century in Rome, Italy

Died

Bibiana was scourged to death c.361, and her body was left to the dogs, but none would touch her. She was buried two days later in the Pretestato Catacombs, Rome, Italy. Her relics were enshrined in the Church of Our Lady of Sorrows, Los Angeles, California from 1855 until the building burned in August 1865, and in the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, Los Angeles, California.

Patronage

  • against epilepsy
  • against hangovers
  • against headaches
  • against insanity
  • against mental illness
  • epileptics
  • mentally ill people
  • single laywomen
  • torture victims
  • archdiocese of Los Angeles, California 
  • Bibiana, Italy

Representation

  • branch
  • pillar
  • green branch covered with twigs and foliage

Sources: https://catholicsaints.info/saint-bibiana/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Bibiana#/media/File:Saint_Bibiana_by_Bernini.jpg

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Saint Eligius of Noyon

Profile

Eligius was the son of Eucherius and Terrigia. He was extremely skillful metalsmith, apprenticed to the master of the mint at Limoges, France. He was the treasurer at Marseilles, France, and a master of the mint under King Clotaire II in Paris, France; a close friend of and advisor to Clotaire.

Noted for his piety, hard work and honesty, Eligius was generous to the poor, ransomed slaves (including Saint Tillo of Solignac), built churches, a monastery at Solignac, France, and a major convent in Paris. It was said that you could easily find his house by the number of poor people there that he was caring for. Counselor to and diplomat for King Dagobert I. Friend of Saint Ouen of Rouen with whom he formed a small religious society. Persuaded Breton King Judicael to accept the authority of Dagobert.

Ordained in 640. Bishop of Noyon, France and Tournai, Belgium in 641. Built the basilica of Saint Paul. Preacher in Antwerp, Ghent, and Courtai in Belgium, with many converts, generally brought to the faith by his example of charity and work with the poor and sick. Friend and spiritual teacher of Saint Godeberta. Encouraged devotion to the saints and reverence for their relics; he discovered the relics of Saint Quentin, Saint Piaton, and Saint Lucian of Beauvais, and made many reliquaries himself. Miracle worker with the gifts of clairvoyance and prophecy; he foresaw the date of his own death.

He has become the traditional patron of all smiths, metal workers, and craftsmen. His patronage of horses and the people who work with them stems first from his patronage of smiths and craftmen, but also from his having left a horse to a priest at his death. The new bishop liked the horse, and took it from the priest. The horse became sick, but recovered immediately when it was returned to the priest that Eligius had chosen.

There is also a legend of Eligius removing a horse‘s leg in order to easy shoe it, then putting the leg back in place. In some places horses are blessed on his feast day. Through the years, horse-drawn cabs were replaced by motorized ones, and stables were supplanted by garages and gas stations, but the patronage of the people who do those jobs and work in those places has remained.

Born

588 at Catelat, near Limoges, France

Died

1 December 660 at Noyon, France of high fever
interred in the cathedral of Noyon

Canonized

Pre-Congregation

Patronage

  • against boils
  • against epidemics
  • against equine diseases
  • against poverty
  • against ulcers
  • agricultural workers
  • basket makers
  • blacksmiths
  • boilermakers
  • cab drivers
  • cabmen
  • candle makers
  • carpenters
  • carriage makers
  • cart makers
  • carters
  • cartwrights
  • clock makers
  • coachmen
  • coachwrights
  • computer scientists
  • craftsmen
  • cutlers
  • cutlery makers
  • electricians
  • engravers
  • farm workers
  • farmers
  • farriers
  • garage workers
  • gas station workers
  • gilders
  • gold workers
  • goldsmiths
  • guards
  • gunsmiths
  • harness makers
  • horse traders
  • horseshoe makers
  • jewelers
  • jockeys
  • knife makers
  • laborers
  • lamp makers
  • livestock
  • locksmiths
  • mechanics
  • metal workers
  • metalsmiths
  • miners
  • minters
  • minting
  • numismatics
  • REME
  • Royal Electrical and
  • Mechanical Engineers
  • saddle makers
  • saddlers
  • scissors grinders
  • security guards
  • servants
  • silversmiths
  • taxi drivers
  • teamsters
  • tinsmiths
  • tool makers
  • veterinarians
  • watch makers
  • wheelwrights
  • Worshipful Company of
  • Blacksmiths
  • coin collectors
  • garages
  • gas stations
  • horses
  • livestock
  • metal collectors
  • numismatists
  • peasants
  • petrol stations
  • precious metal collectors
  • sick horses
  • Eloois-Vijve, Belgium
  • Sint-Eloois-Winkel, Belgium
  • Carrozzieri, Italy
  • Schinveld, Netherlands

Representation

  • anvil
  • bishop with a crosier in his right hand, on the open palm of his left a miniature church of chased gold
  • bishop with a hammer, anvil, and horseshoe
  • bishop with a horse
  • courtier
  • goldsmith
  • hammer
  • horseshoe
  • man grasping a devil‘s nose with pincers
  • man holding a chalice and goldsmith‘s hammer
  • man holding a horse‘s leg, which he detached from the horse in order to shoe it more easily
  • man shoeing a horse
  • man with hammer and crown near a smithy
  • man with hammer, anvil, and Saint Anthony
  • pincers
  • with Saint Godebertha of Noyon
  • giving a ring to Saint Godebertha
  • working as a goldsmith

Sources: https://catholicsaints.info/saint-eligius/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Eligius#/media/File:Petrus_Christus_003.jpg

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Luke 21:32-33

Relying Upon the Word of God

“Amen, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.”

Reflection:

As we approach the final days of this liturgical year, we continue to read about the end of the world. Today we read that both Heaven and earth, as they currently are, will pass away. This is worth pondering.

We know that life is full of change. It has been said that the one thing that never changes is change itself. Everything else changes. But when it comes to earth, it is hard to believe that it will one day “pass away.” Some scientists believe that the earth has existed for over four and a half billion years. That’s a long time! Now consider the fact that Jesus prophesied the end of this earth as we know it today. When will it happen? Only God knows.

Heaven, as it exists today, is also prophesied by our Lord to pass away. Heaven, as it is right now, is a pure spiritual reality in which the only corporeal bodies present are those of Jesus and our Blessed Mother. The rest of Heaven consists of the Divine Essence, the souls of those who have been redeemed and the angels of God. But if Heaven even passes away, what awaits?

First of all, the only reason that these two realities, Heaven and earth, will pass away in their current form is because, at the Final Judgment, there will be a “New Heavens and a New Earth,” as spoken of in the Book of Revelation. At that time, Heaven and earth will be united as one, and this new creation will exist for eternity.

But is there anything that is currently eternal? Anything that will never experience change? We humans will be changed at the resurrection of the dead, the angels will encounter a new home, so to speak, and God will establish a new and permanent Kingship. But, according to Jesus’ teaching today, the one thing that will remain are His words: “…my words will not pass away.” Again, this is worth pondering.

In a world filled with change and uncertainty, we need some form of stability. And that stability is the Truth found in the Word of God. The Word of God, as revealed to us through the Scriptures, must become our rock foundation upon which our whole lives are built and exist.

Pondering, praying with, meditating on, and believing the Word of God enables us to stand on firm and unchanging spiritual ground as we go through the change of this life and even the changes that will come at the end of time. Though this may seem somewhat mysterious in nature, it is a helpful truth to understand and believe. Everything will pass away except Jesus’ words. Thus, the most secure thing we can do in life is to cling to His words and never let go.

Reflect, today, upon the importance of truly immersing yourself in the Word of God. How much time do you spend each week reading it, praying with it and allowing it to become your daily food? The Word of God is not simply a book of teachings meant to inspire you or guide you. The Word of God is a Living Word. It is God in His unchangeable form.

God, in His essence, will never change, and engaging Him through the revelation of His written Word is one essential way by which you will be able to experience true stability in life and prepare for each and every change to come until the final order of life is permanently established.

Source: https://catholic-daily-reflections.com/2023/11/30/relying-upon-the-word-of-god-2/

Luke 21:32-33 Read More »

Saint Andrew the Apostle

Patron Saint of boatmen, butchers, farm workers, fish dealers, fishermen, happy marriages, maidens, miners, paralytics, pregnant women, ropemakers, sailmakers, sailors, singers, spinsters, textile workers, water carriers, and women who wish to become mothers Invoked against cramps, convulsions, dysentery, fever, gout, neck pain, paralysis, sore throats, and whooping cough

Saint Andrew, one of the Twelve Apostles, was most likely born in Bethsaida, just north of the Sea of Galilee, in what is today the Golan Heights. As a young man, he and his brother, Peter, worked as fishermen on the Sea of Galilee. John’s Gospel reveals that Andrew was a disciple of Saint John the Baptist prior to his encounter with Jesus. This shows that Andrew was searching and took his faith seriously.

As is recorded in John 1:35–42, Andrew and another disciple were listening to John preach in the desert. As they listened to him, the Baptist saw Jesus in the distance and prophetically exclaimed, “Behold, the Lamb of God.” After Andrew and the other disciple inquired of Jesus where He was staying, Jesus invited them to follow Him by saying, “Come, and you will see.” They then spent the rest of the day with Jesus. Andrew is, therefore, the first of the Apostles to be called and to respond to that call. For that reason, the Greek Church calls Andrew the “Protokletos,” meaning, “the first called.”

Shortly after this encounter, Andrew becomes an apostle to his brother, Simon Peter. He tells Simon, “We have found the Messiah.” This statement says much about Andrew’s interior spiritual sensibilities. First, he clearly understood that John the Baptist’s ministry was special. Andrew followed John the Baptist, discerning that he was a prophet.

When John points Andrew to Jesus, Andrew immediately follows Him, engages Him, and believes in Him. It’s clearly an act of supernatural revelation that enabled Andrew to profess his faith in Jesus as the Messiah within a day of meeting Him. And the fact that he wanted his brother to share in this discovery shows that this grace was overflowing.

Though Andrew’s missionary work after Pentecost is not recorded in the New Testament, later traditions emerged from the late second or early third century. According to those traditions, Andrew traveled to Scythia, a region that today makes up part of Ukraine, southern Russia, and parts of Kazakhstan. He is also believed to have founded the Church in Byzantium, which became known as Constantinople when Emperor Constantine made it the capital of the Roman Empire. Today it is the city of Istanbul, Turkey. Byzantium-Constantinople became the central Church for the East, the Greeks. Many have seen it as significant that Peter founded the Church of Rome in the West, and his brother founded the Church in the East, revealing the unity of East and West.

In addition to other legends that Andrew preached in Asia Minor and the Black Sea region, his life is said to have ended in the city of Patras, Greece, where he was crucified on an X-shaped cross. Peter is believed to have requested to be crucified upside-down because he did not deem himself worthy of dying on a cross like Jesus. Andrew is said to have requested the X-shaped cross for the same reason.

According to that tradition, which comes to us in a second-century document called Acts of Andrew, Proconsul Ægeates was visiting the city of Patras, where Andrew was preaching. Ægeates sought to put an end to the new Christian religion and to convince Christians to honor the Roman gods and offer sacrifice to them. When Andrew heard of this, he ran to meet Ægeates, telling him that the Son of God “came on account of the salvation of men.” Of the Roman gods he said, “…these idols are not only not gods, but also most shameful demons, and hostile to the human race…” Ægeates was outraged but carried out a long dialogue in which he inquired about Jesus’ death on the Cross, suggesting that Jesus’ death was foolish and was because of Jesus’ false doctrine.

Andrew, however, proclaimed to him the true mystery of the Cross in which Christ embraced it freely so that He could win the salvation of those who would believe in Him. By the end of their conversation, Ægeates ordered Andrew’s crucifixion. Saint Andrew did not see Christ’s Cross as an instrument of torture and death but as a glorious means of eternal salvation. He saw his own suffering and death as a sharing not only in Christ’s sufferings but also in Christ’s redemption. Thus, he ran to that cross and embraced it wholeheartedly.

Source: https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/november-30–st-andrew-apostle

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Matthew 4:18-19

The Eyes of Our Lord

“As Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea; they were fishermen. He said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

Reflection:

Today, we honor one of the Apostles: Saint Andrew. Andrew and his brother Peter were fishermen who would soon take on a new form of fishing.  They would soon become “fishers of men,” as Jesus said. But prior to being sent on this mission by our Lord, they had to become His followers. And this happened as our Lord was first the fisher of these men.

Notice that in this Gospel, Jesus was simply walking by and “saw” these two brothers working hard at their occupation. First, Jesus “saw” them, and then He called them. This gaze of our Lord is worth pondering.

Imagine the profound truth that our Lord is continually gazing at you with divine love, looking for the moment that you turn your attention to Him. His gaze is perpetual and deep. His gaze is one that yearns for you to follow Him, to abandon all else so as to hear His gentle invitation not only to follow Him, but to then go forth and invite others on the journey of faith.

As we begin this Advent season, we must allow the call of Andrew and Peter to also become our own calling. We must allow ourselves to notice Jesus as He looks at us, sees who we are, is aware of everything about us, and then speaks a word of invitation. He says to you, “Come after me…”  This is an invitation that must permeate every aspect of your life. To “come after” Jesus is to leave all else behind and to make the act of following our Lord the single purpose of your life.

Sadly, many people pay little attention to this calling in their lives. Few people hear Him speak and fewer respond, and even fewer respond with complete abandonment of their lives. The beginning of Advent is an opportunity to evaluate your responsiveness to the call of our Lord once again.

Reflect, today, upon Jesus speaking these words to you. First, ponder the question of whether you have said “Yes” to Him with all the powers of your soul. Second, reflect upon those whom our Lord wants you to invite on the journey. To whom is Jesus sending you to invite? Who, in your life, is open to His call? Who does Jesus want to draw to Himself through you? Imitate these Apostles as they said “Yes” to our Lord, even though they did not immediately understand all that this would entail. Say “Yes” today and be ready and willing to do whatever comes next on this glorious journey of faith.

Source: https://catholic-daily-reflections.com/2023/11/29/the-eyes-of-our-lord-3/

Matthew 4:18-19 Read More »

Saint Saturninus of Toulouse

Profile

Saturninus was born to the third century Roman nobility. He was a missionary to Gaul, the Pyrenees, and the Iberian peninsula. He worked with Saint Papoul. He converted many, including the farmer now known as Saint Honestus who joined him as a missionary.

Imprisoned in Carcassone by the prefect Rufinus, Saturninus and his group were freed by an angel. He became the first bishop of Toulouse (in modern France), where he teamed with Saint Martial to perform miraculous healings. Converted and baptized Saint Firminus of Amiens.

When Saturninus began his work in Toulouse, the local pagan priests stopped receiving oracular messages from their gods. One day in 257, when the priests were hopelessly frustrated, Saturninus passed by in the street. The priests blamed the bishop, and ordered the crowd of heathens to seize him and force him to offer sacrifice to their gods. The idols fell to pieces in front of the bishop, and the crowd murdered him.

Born

  • Patras, Greece

Died

  • dragged to death by a bull c.257 in Toulouse, France
  • two Christian women gathered up his remains and buried them in a ditch
  • a church called the Taur (bull) was built where the bull stopped
  • relics at the basilica at Toulouse

Patronage

  • against ants
  • against bovine spongiform encephalopathy
  • death anxiety
  • against fraud
  • against headaches
  • against mad cow disease
  • against nausea
  • against pain
  • against plague
  • against scrapie
  • against smallpox
  • against syphilis
  • bullfighters
  • smallpox patients
  • Burgo de San Cernin, Navarra, Spain
  • Minderau, Germany
  • Motte-Saint-Jean, Burgundy, France
  • Pamplona, Spain
  • Roche-Vineuse, Burgundy, France
  • Sant Sadurni d’Anoia, Catalonia, Spain
  • Sant Sadurni d’Osormort, Catalonia, Spain
  • Sant Sadurni de l’heure, Catalonia, Spain
  • Sardinia, Italy
  • Navarre, Spain
  • St-Sernin-d’Apt, France
  • St-Sernin-du-Bois, Burgundy, France
  • St-Sernin-du-Plain, Burgundy, France
  • Toulouse, France
  • Vauban, Burgundy, France
  • Weissenau, Germany

Representation

  • bishop dragged by a bull
  • bishop with a bull at his feet
  • bull, cross and mitre

Source: https://catholicsaints.info/saint-saturninus-of-toulouse/

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Luke 21:14-15

Responding with Grace

“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.”

Reflection:

This line is embedded in today’s Gospel in which Jesus makes it clear that His followers will be persecuted. Many of them will be seized, sent to prison, hated and even be put to death. For some, this will even happen at the hands of their own family. But Jesus tells them this to prepare them and to let them know that these persecutions will enable them to give testimony to Jesus. The Gospel passage above explains how they are to do this.

First of all, giving “testimony” especially means they are to be a witness to Christ. And one of the best ways such a witness is fulfilled is through the various forms of martyrdom. To be a martyr is to be a witness. And those who suffer persecution for the sake of Christ, and then respond to that persecution in accord with the wisdom and inspiration of Jesus, are true martyrs.

It’s helpful to note that if one is persecuted and responds with anger or returns the violence in accord with their own irrational will, then they are no martyr. They simply become what they have received. They become angry and bitter people. Being a martyr requires both unjust treatment and a response to that mistreatment in accord with God’s will. For that reason, though persecution is never initiated by God, it does offer the Christian an opportunity to deeply conform themself to Christ by responding as He dictates.

Jesus says that responding to persecution requires that we not prepare a defense beforehand. In part, this is because there is great temptation one experiences when persecuted by another. It is very understandable that when a person experiences persecution in any way, they will encounter anger and be tempted to fight back in a way that is uncharitable and only furthers the disorder.

Responding to persecution in accord with the will of God requires great attentiveness to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, great humility, and unwavering charity directed at the one doing the persecution. Therefore, Jesus makes the promise that He will be with you in such situations and will give you “a wisdom in speaking that all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute.” What a grace! But this grace is only available to those who rely completely upon Christ, and not upon their own disordered passions and emotions.

Reflect, today, upon this promise from Jesus. Some will encounter little persecution in their lives at various times. But others will encounter severe persecution in various ways, even from their family. Reflect upon any ways that you have experienced the unjust treatment of another and then reflect upon your response.

Were you able to immediately forgive? Were you able to set aside your anger, wounded pride and desire for revenge? Were you able to keep your eyes on Christ and rejoice that you have been found worthy to share in the ridicule, persecutions and sufferings that Jesus endured? Pray that you will always be open to the grace of this promise of Jesus so that you will always respond to everyone in accord with the wisdom of God.

Source: https://catholic-daily-reflections.com/2023/11/28/responding-with-grace-2/

Luke 21:14-15 Read More »

Saint Catherine Laboure

Also known as

  • Zoe Laboure
  • Catherine Labore

Profile

Ninth of eleven children born to a farm family, and from an early age, Catherine felt a call to the religious life. She never learned to read or write. She was forced to take over running the house at age eight after her mother died and her older sister joined the Sisters of Charity. She worked as a waitress in her uncle’s cafe in Paris, France. Upon entering a hospital run by the Sisters of Charity, she received a vision in which Saint Vincent de Paul told her that God wanted her to work with the sick, and she later joined the Order, taking the name Catherine.

On 18 July 1830, she had a vision of Our Lady who described to her a medal which she wished struck. On one side it has the image of Our Lady, and the words, “O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee”; on the other are the hearts of Jesus and Mary. Our Lady told Catherine that wearers of the medal would receive great graces. It has become known as the Miraculous Medal, and its wearing and devotion has spread worldwide.

Born

  • 2 May 1806 at Fain-les-Moûtiers, Côte d’Or, Burgundy, France as Zoe Laboure

Died

  • 31 December 1876 at Enghien-Reuilly, France
  • body incorrupt
  • entombed in her convent chapel

Venerated

  • 19 July 1931 by Pope Pius XI (decree of heroic virtues)

Beatified

  • 28 May 1933 by Pope Pius XI

Canonized

  • 27 July 1947 by Pope Pius XII

Patronage

  • pigeon fanciers
  • pigeons

Source: https://catholicsaints.info/saint-catherine-laboure/

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Luke 21:5-6

Remain At Peace in All Things

“While some people were speaking about how the temple was adorned with costly stones and votive offerings, Jesus said, “All that you see here—the days will come when there will not be left a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down.”

Reflection:

In a literal way, this prophecy of our Lord came true. In 70 A.D., the Temple upon which they were commenting was destroyed. After prophesying this, Jesus then goes on to warn the disciples that there will be many confusions that will come. There will be false prophets, wars and insurrections, powerful earthquakes, famines, plagues, “and awesome sights and mighty signs will come from the sky.” Why does Jesus prophesy all of these things?

The answer was simple. He was not trying to scare them. He was not simply trying to satisfy their curiosity. Instead, He was warning them and preparing us all so that we do not become misled or terrified when they come. He says, “See that you not be deceived” and “do not be terrified.”

As the old saying goes, “Life is not a bowl of cherries.” While we live in this fallen world, chaos, confusion, deception, abuse, scandal, conflict and the like will be all around us. And when we do come face-to-face with any such difficulty, there is a temptation to fear, anger and despair. Be it family conflicts, civil unrest or even divisions within the Church itself, God wants us to remain at peace and to trust Him always.

Take Jesus’ own life as an example. He was arrested, falsely accused, sentenced to death and crucified. And through it all, He remained at peace, knowing that His suffering would become the very source of new life. God can use all things for good for those who love and serve Him.

Reflect, today, upon the undeniable fact that your life will involve difficulty. Sometimes that difficulty is self-imposed as a result of your sin, and sometimes it is unjustly imposed on account of the sin of another. Truth be told, we should only be concerned about our own sin. If other challenges come your way that are out of your control, then use those challenges as opportunities to trust.

Entrust all things to God, every suffering, every persecution, every tragedy, every struggle, everything. If God the Father could bring about the greatest good ever known through the brutal murder of His own divine Son, then He can certainly do the same with all that you offer to Him in trust. Trust at all times and in all circumstances, and our all-powerful Lord will bring good from everything.

Source: https://catholic-daily-reflections.com/2023/11/27/remain-at-peace-in-all-things-2/

Luke 21:5-6 Read More »