{"id":902,"date":"2016-11-13T15:05:59","date_gmt":"2016-11-13T20:05:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/?p=902"},"modified":"2016-11-15T15:20:26","modified_gmt":"2016-11-15T20:20:26","slug":"the-fruits-of-perserverance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/?p=902","title":{"rendered":"The Fruits of Perserverance!"},"content":{"rendered":"

33rd<\/sup> Sunday in Ordinary Time<\/h2>\n

Mal 3: 19-20a; 2 Thes 3:7-12; Lk 21: 5-19<\/h2>\n

By Deacon Larry Brockman<\/h2>\n

So, we should not be afraid of the end! For, as Jesus says: \u201cBy your perseverance, you will secure your lives\u201d.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

For the last several weeks, we\u2019ve been hearing about the Kingdom of God. And while Jesus seems vague about it, it\u2019s just because we have a tendency not to listen to what He says. He has said the kingdom is already here; it is amongst us. That\u2019s because if you follow Jesus by doing his will and defending your faith; then you already have everlasting life in you. It simply can\u2019t be taken away from you. And that\u2019s something we can all be joyful about.<\/p>\n

But the kind of life we have in the Kingdom of God is not the kind of life we typically seek in this world. We seek comfort; good things to eat and consume; fun things to do; leisure time; the path of least resistance; and ways around suffering and pain.\u00a0\u00a0 While none of these things is bad in themselves, they are a problem if that is all we seek. They are a problem if our focus is only on self-gratification; they are a problem if we are not focused on others; and they are a problem if our main focus is not on pleasing God.<\/p>\n

Our readings clearly reinforce this today. First, Malachi chastises the clearly bad doers of this world. If you do evil, and are consumed by it; then in the end you will be swept away in an eternal fire, and nothing will be left of you. It is such a vivid description of the hell that awaits the truly evil doers and unbelievers. They are the people whose focus is entirely empty of God.<\/p>\n

Paul then talks about some people this way: \u201cWe hear that some are conducting themselves among you in a disorderly way, by not keeping busy but minding the business of others\u201d. Don\u2019t you just love it! The pictures that came to my mind were the multiple \u201cdemonstrations\u201d around this country by folks who are upset with the results of the election. Where do they get the time? Aren\u2019t there more productive things for them to do? Paul says it this way: \u201cSuch people we instruct and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to work quietly and to eat their own food\u201d. \u00a0And Paul backed up his assertion by talking about his own situation. He was a visitor; but did not expect to be kept by the people he was visiting. Rather, he says: \u201cOn the contrary, in toil and drudgery, night and day we worked, so as not to burden any of you.\u201d That is our responsibility. To work quietly according to God\u2019s plan to do God\u2019s will; and that means minimizing the burden that we are on our society. These are people whose focus is on themselves.<\/p>\n

And then there is the Gospel. People are impressed by the elegance of the Temple adornments. Jesus set\u2019s them straight. It will all come to nothing. So it is with all of us. Whatever we seek in this world in the way of things and comfort; it will all come to nothing in the end. What matters is whether we believe in Jesus Christ and stand up as His witnesses.<\/p>\n

Now the authorities ask Jesus an interesting question as Jesus says that it will all come to nothing in the end. They ask Jesus \u201cwhen\u201d. They want to know when the end will really come. These are people who have a glimmer of faith and concern, but who are diverted somewhat from their goals. So, they want to know when, presumably so they can be prepared.<\/p>\n

Jesus\u2019 answer is very sobering and has two parts to it: First, don\u2019t be taken in by those who claim to know when the end will come. Nobody knows; and those who claim they know mislead. They often have their own interests in mind; and very frequently advocate things that detract from what our real goal should be- to live God\u2019s plan for us and trust in him.<\/p>\n

Second, be prepared always. That\u2019s really the essence of Jesus\u2019 warning to be prepared to defend your faith always. All of us who believe need to be tested in the crucible of this world. All of us will be challenged or persecuted or tested in our faith sometime during our lives. For some, it comes down to making the right choice in the midst of temptations. And there are plenty such temptations- cheating in money matters, relationships, or tests for example. For others, we will be directly challenged in a matter of faith: whether to have an abortion; or whether to follow our conscience when a boss or authority tries to get us to do something wrong. Still others will be directly persecuted just for their faith, like the Christians in ISIS held territory.<\/p>\n

Rather than try to anticipate the end, we just need to hold firm when we are tested. Fortunately for most of us, we are given a chance over and over to reconcile with God whenever we do slip up. That\u2019s what the Sacrament of Penance is for.<\/p>\n

So remember this always. Be ready at all times to live your faith. Then \u201cBy your perseverance, you will secure your lives\u201d. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time Mal 3: 19-20a; 2 Thes 3:7-12; Lk 21: 5-19 By Deacon Larry Brockman So, we should not be afraid of the end! For, as Jesus says: \u201cBy your perseverance, you will secure your lives\u201d.\u00a0 For the last several weeks, we\u2019ve been hearing about the Kingdom of God. And while Jesus […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[436,435],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/902"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=902"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/902\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":903,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/902\/revisions\/903"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}