The Destruction of the Temple Foretold

The Gospel from today until end of Advent are full of warnings about the end times. Now on hearing about them am I to be terrified, not at all because God’s providence will see you/me through whatever evils may beset our world and personal life.

The temple was not just the centre of the Jews’ civilization; it was the place where God lived among them. Yet Jesus dared to tell his listeners that it was all going to fall apart (and indeed it was destroyed by the Romans). Now is there anything or person that I have made “most precious” to me: a relationship, health, family, money, passion, work or possessions. What if I lose any of this and eventually I am going to then what sustains me through these times? In my difficulties do I set my heart on God, so that I grow stronger as a result?

And this is what Jesus is telling us to be prepared, to remain firm in faith and to make Him the centre of our lives. He calls us to be rooted and stable while also being ready to shed everything. He reminds us that without Him as the centre of our lives, we will be lost.

We pray: ‘Jesus, you care about the whole world. Even though our world seems to be full of disasters, you are labouring so that it may end in triumph. Give me courage and energy to play my little part, so that at the end I may rejoice with YOU.’