Some
Thoughts on the Liturgy
TIME
TO PERSEVERE
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Luke is writing this particular passage of the Gospel
around 80 AD
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quoting Jesus who is predicting the destruction of the
temple in Jerusalem which happened in 70 AD
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he knows that Jesus’s prediction of the destruction of
the temple in Jerusalem has happened
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he knows of the tremendous persecution of Christians that
is taking place as he is writing
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that is the first part of the passage
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the second part contains the prediction by Jesus concerning
some signs of the end of the world
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Luke, as he was writing had not seen it: he was familiar
with the persecution, but obviously, the end had not come
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and it hasn’t for us either: we are in between the
destruction of the temple in Jerusalem and the end of the
world, as Luke was, only a little later
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It is important to see that the Lord does not answer the
questions of when, what and how concerning the end of the
world
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he talks about some signs and some false signs
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and he gives some idea of what will happen beforehand,
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but he says that the important thing is that we put
up with
the
pain and persecution—that is, that we do all of this with
perseverance,
that is persevering in the faith that we have accepted
By
your perseverance, you will secure your lives.
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That English phrase “perseverance” might be translated
loosely to mean that we must use the time that we have left
to be better people of faith
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it can easily be a good source of meditation: how
do we use the time before the end of our
world,
which is the end of our lives
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there
is a song that was popular a number of years ago from the
Irish singer Enya called “Only
Time”
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she sang: “Who
can say if your love grows as your heart chose—only time.
Who can say why your heart sighs as your love flies—only
time. And who can say why your heart cries when your love
lies—only time”
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she speaks of time being the factor in determining whether
something is real or not—in her case—romantic love
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but that is a good thought for the spiritual life as well
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as we look at our time right now, if it is true that our
time determines whether something is real or important
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what does our use of our time say is real or important to
us?
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speaking in terms of the Gospel, a certain portion of our
time should be spent in the effort of developing a strong
faith in God
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Simply put, you and I should be concerned about developing
this strong faith in God
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maybe that means that some of our behavior patterns should
change
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or we might borrow some time to pursue our faith from the
other activities
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if we could take 15 minutes off of our sleeping, and apply
it to the reading of Scripture
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or if we could take 30 minutes out of watching TV, and use
it to pray a rosary or visit the Church or make a phone
call to someone who needs it
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we would be using our time well
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or in terms of the Gospel, we would be spending time in
developing a persevering faith in God
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The second reading today is a pretty direct statement of
Paul to the church in the Greek city of Thessolonica that
you have to work in order to earn your livelihood
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placed in the context of what we have been speaking about—
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we have to work on the time we have left
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really
work
with perseverance at bringing Jesus back into proper focus
in our lives.
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