Gospel: Lk 21:12-19
Before all these things happen, people will lay their hands on you and persecute you; you will be delivered to the synagogues and put in prison, and for my sake you will be brought before kings and governors. This will be your opportunity to bear witness.
So keep this in mind: do not worry in advance about what to say, for I will give you words and wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict.
You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends, and some of you will be put to death. But even though, because of my name, you will be hated by everyone, not a hair of your head will perish. By your patient endurance you will save your souls.REFLECTION:
“Patience is a virtue.“ We are all familiar with that cliché, and many of us know that patience is listed by Paul (Galatians 5:2) among the fruits of the Spirit. So there‘s no argument that we Christians ought to be patient. But what is patience and why do we need to be patient?
Patience comes from Latin word patior, pati, passus, meaning to suffer. Thus, as a virtue, it disposes one to endure discomfort without complaint. It often goes with the virtues of self-control, humility, and generosity. And we need to be patient because the road to holiness and way to heaven is not easy. As a matter of fact, the insistence of Jesus with which Jesus speaks of persecution made us think that for Him persecution is a very ordinary happening in the life of the Church and its followers. Thus, in moments like this, we need to adopt this evangelical attitude; because, as Jesus would tell us in the gospel, it is “by patient endurance that we will save our lives.“