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Gospel Reading for November 16, 2025 – Luke 21: 5-19
SURELY
While some people were speaking about how the temple was adorned with costly stones and votive offerings, Jesus said, “All that you see here– the days will come when there will not be left a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down.”
Then they asked him, “Teacher, when will this happen? And what sign will there be when all these things are about to happen?” He answered, “See that you not be deceived, for many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he,’ and ‘The time has come.’ Do not follow them! When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for such things must happen first, but it will not immediately be the end.” Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be powerful earthquakes, famines, and plagues from place to place; and awesome sights and mighty signs will come from the sky.
“Before all this happens, however, they will seize and persecute you, they will hand you over to the synagogues and to prisons, and they will have you led before kings and governors because of my name. It will lead to your giving testimony. Remember, you are not to prepare your defense beforehand, for I myself shall give you a wisdom in speaking that all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute. You will even be handed over by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends, and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name, but not a hair on your head will be destroyed. By your perseverance you will secure your lives.”
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Who among us wants to be hated by others? Probably, no one. We want to be liked if not be loved by others. It fulfills an innate need of acceptance. This is why being a TRUE CHRISTIAN is quite a challenge especially in a world that is worsening in moral values, where the teachings of Christ is being made wrong and the opposite right. As Jesus described in our gospel of today, even in our families, his teachings causes division and sometimes, even separation. As he said in Matthew 10: 34-36, “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law— a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.”
So, why allow ourselves to be hated? Why allow our families to be divided? Why allow our friends to drift apart from us? Is following Jesus worth the struggle? Yes, because the hatred, the division, the drifting apart all comes from the evil one. If the evil one hates us, then we are SURELY on the right path to eternal life!
Let us ponder on this hymn written by Dan Schutte, I FOUND THE TREASURE –
Lord, to whom can I go?
You alone speak the words of life.
You alone on the earth
or in heaven above
are my Saviour and my Lord.
I found the treasure in a field,
that neither time nor death can steal.
I will sell what I have,
give all that I am,
to hold this treasure as my own.
Jesus, Lord of my life,
I can ask for nothing more
than to see and believe
that my life lies in you,
in the kingdom of my Lord.
I found the treasure in a field,
that neither time nor death can steal.
I will sell what I have,
give all that I am,
to hold this treasure as my own.
