Reflection for November 25, Thursday the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time: Luke 21:20-28

Gospel: Luke 21:20-28

Jesus said to his disciples: “When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, know that its desolation is at hand. Then those in Judea must flee to the mountains. Let those within the city escape from it, and let those in the countryside not enter the city, for these days are the time of punishment when all the Scriptures are fulfilled.  

Woe to pregnant women and nursing mothers in those days, for a terrible calamity will come upon the earth and a wrathful judgment upon this people. They will fall by the edge of the sword and be taken as captives to all the Gentiles; and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.  

“There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on earth nations will be in dismay, perplexed by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will die of fright in anticipation of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. But when these signs begin to happen, stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand.”

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Reflection:

There are two kinds of human sufferings that comes to us. The first kind of suffering is one that we create for ourselves. For example, a drunkard who has been told time and again by his relatives to stop for it would result to his getting sick. But the drunkard would not listen to their wise counsel. Eventually he got sick with cancer of the liver caused by his excessive drinking of liquor.  

The second kind of suffering that comes to us are those sufferings that we don’t bring to ourselves. Example of this is sickness that comes with getting old or any kind of suffering that we don’t create for ourselves.  

In our gospel for this Thursday Jesus speaks about the destruction of Jerusalem and its people. They could have easily avoided this kind of sufferings if they listened to the messengers of God (the prophets) who called on them to leave behind their sinful ways. But they did not, they continued to sin they killed the messengers that God sent them including His Son Jesus.  

As we close the curtains of this liturgical year and as we enter the door of Advent. We are called by God to listen to His voice who calls upon us to humbly repent from our sinfulness. And the best response that we could ever do is to humbly submit ourselves to the Healing Sacrament of Confession.       

We are all sinful and we are all in need of Jesus’ Mercy, Forgiveness and Healing. - Marino J. Dasmarinas