At that time, while some were talking about the temple, which was adorned with beautiful stones and votive gifts, Jesus said: “The days will come in which, of what you see, no stone will be left on stone that will not be destroyed.”
They asked him, “Master, when then will these things happen and what will be the sign when they are about to happen?” He replied: ‘Be careful not to be deceived. In fact, many will come in my name saying: “It is I”, and: “The time is near”. Don’t go after them! When you hear of wars and revolutions, do not be terrified, because these things must happen first, but the end is not immediately ”.
Then he said to them: “Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places; there will also be terrifying facts and great signs from heaven.
But first of all they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, hand you over to synagogues and prisons, drag you before kings and governors, because of my name. You will then have the opportunity to give a witness. So remember not to prepare your defense first; I will give you word and wisdom, so that all your adversaries will not be able to resist or fight back.
You will even be betrayed by your parents, siblings, relatives and friends, and they will kill some of you; you will be hated by all because of my name. But not a single hair of your head will be lost.
With your perseverance you will save your life ». (Lk 21: 5-19).
Today, November 13, the Church reaches the 33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time (year C, liturgical color green).
Commenting on the Gospel of the Holy Mass is Don Mauro Donato, a priest of the Archdiocese of Turin.
Love, life, values, spirituality are contained in his reflection for “Splinters of Light, thoughts on the festive Gospels”, a column that wants to be a tender caress for all souls in this valley of exile. Thoughts and words in the perfect style of Don Bosco, which are like sparks to ignite the reasons for hope.
Here it is, the comment.
This Word of Jesus wants to bring his disciples to the essential of faith; and, through his story, Luke also gives us, pilgrims of this time, the opportunity to fix our attention.
The temple in Jesus’ time, like a church, parish, or sanctuary for us today, can be symbolic places, some particularly significant, in which we open ourselves to the sacred, and, perhaps, to the one and true God, who is that revealed himself in the Lord Jesus. But the place, no matter what, is not our faith, it is not its essence. Here Jesus announces the destruction of the temple, a place where the faith of a Jew of his time is lived in offerings and rites, a sacred place par excellence; we have no way of thinking that such an end is imminent for Saint Peter in Rome or for some other place particularly symbolic for our faith (even if there have been persecutions in other parts of the world), as it will be a few years later for the Temple of Jerusalem; but we can guess that these places, even those that seem more solid today, will somehow experience an epilogue, a decline, if not a destruction.
But the place, the space of the sacred, is not our faith: it is only a means, a help. In fact, with the passion and death on the cross is the body, and all humanity of Jesus the Son of God, our new temple; He is the only true and indispensable mediator for our faith, which nothing can take away from us.
The time of trials, of wars, of cataclysms, is every time, except for brief periods in someone’s history. That time is then also this time, ours, and it is an occasion, for those who have received and welcomed the gift of faith, to bear witness to the Gospel, because the evangelical faith is the profound meaning of the human life of every person forever. Even without more references, without more certainties and certainties, the essential cannot be taken away from us: this essential is He, the living and lived Word of God.
Persevering in this faith, then, we will be saved: our spiritual life, and therefore human, will be in the health of the children of God, in the midst of any whirlwind of history; and we will be led to salvation, to the eternal happiness of the Kingdom of heaven.
Splinters of Light: thoughts on Don Mauro Donato’s festive Gospels