26th NOVEMBER. THURSDAY OF WEEK 34

1. Daniel6:12-28

Gospel 21: 20-28

REFLECTIONS AND MEDITATIONS ON THE READINGS

The great tribulation

In our today's gospel Jesus is telling us about the end of the Jewish nation,  He tells us not to worry. He tells us that we are to stand erect and raise our heads because our redemption  is at hand. Why this is so? It is because of the following reasons:

The first is due to our faithfulness to God until the end. In the end, there is only one glory that lasts forever. All human honors will pass. All human glories will pass. The only glory that lasts forever is our fidelity to Christ.

Mark Hatfield in his book,  Beyond Hunger, Beals, Mark Hatfield tells of touring Calcutta with Mother Teresa and visiting  the so-called "House of Dying, " where sick children are cared for in their last days and the dispensary, where the poor line up by hundreds to receive medical attention. Watching Mother Teresa minister to these people, feeding and nursing those left by others to die, Hatfield was overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of the suffering she and her co-workers face daily. "How can you bear the load without being crushed by it?" he asked. Mother Teresa replied, " My dear Senator, I am not called to successful, I am called to be faithful." Are we faithful to what the Lord has called us to do?

Second, it is because we are grateful to Him. What is gratitude? It is a deep and intense feeling of owing God for everything we have. But gratitude is more than feeling  grateful, it being grateful which connotes action as a response to God who gives us the gift. Just look at the gift we have received like our own life, have we ever dared think of what nonexistence would be that we might simply not have existed? This simple thought should inspire us to consider deeply and decide firmly what we can do for God and God's cause in our short life.

Thirdly, we are always hopeful. The Son of Man coming in glory and power was an image of hope for the early Christians and us. The Lord has promised us that He would return and reward our fidelity and love; would rise from the dead and He is faithful to His promise; will do it in our lives when we die to ourselves. He promised that we would undergo persecution and rejection for His name, and these have touched every Christian who has lived the faith authentically. But he promised he would come again and bring the reward, peace and victory for which we yearn. How do we live our hope in our all- powerful King who is to come?

From an unknown source that a number of years ago researchers performed an experiment to see the effect hope has on those undergoing hardship. Two set of laboratory rats were placed in separate tubs of water. The researchers left one set  in the water and found that within an hour they had all drowned. The other rats were periodically lifted lifted out of water and then returned. When that happened, the second set of rats swam for over 24 hours. Why? Not because they were given a rest, but because they had suddenly had hope!

Those animals somehow hoped that if they could stay afloat just a little longer, someone would reach down and rescue them. If hope holds such power for unthinking rodents, how much greater should is effect be on our lives.