Reflection
How would you respond if someone predicted that your home, land, or place of worship would be destroyed? What if the person making the prediction was someone who had already performed many miracles, rewarding people for their “faith” in him? That’s what happened to the people in today’s Gospel.
Given their perspective, rather than our 20/20 hindsight, we shouldn’t be surprised by their concern for when the destruction would happen and how they could know ahead of time. They were living in the present as if that was the only thing that mattered.
But Jesus is trying to prevent them, and us, from focusing their/our energy on worldly matters. He desires that we focus on His love for us. He desires us to be with Him for all eternity. He offers us a greater joy than we can ever experience here on earth. He offers us eternal life with Him in heaven. That is the goal on which we should spend our time and energy.
Jesus tells the crowd of the pending destruction of the Temple, and of the entire world. He is trying to point them to His Kingdom, a spiritual world that will not pass away. Only their faith in Him can lead them to a world that will not pass away.
Two thousand years later, we still do not know when the final destruction of this world will take place. But we do know that our spiritual home is already available to us. What is required of us is the same as for the crowds at the Temple: faith and trust in the love and mercy of God. God has the power over everything, especially the things we cannot control. Our faith and trust in Him can remove our fear and bring us hope for the future, our eternal future.
Given this promise of hope, let us seek the love and mercy Jesus offers, allowing the Holy Spirit to guide us, teach us, and lead us to live with eyes focused on the eternal joy to come.
Today’s Question for Prayer and Reflection
Do you know the peace and security of a life submitted to the lordship of Jesus Christ?