Patrick Comerford
We are in the Kingdom Season, the time between All Saints’ Day and Advent, and this week began with the Sunday next before Advent and the Feast of Christ the King (24 November 2024).
Before the day begins, I am taking some quiet time early this morning to give thanks, to reflect, to pray and to read in these ways:
1, today’s Gospel reading;
2, a short reflection;
3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;
4, the Collects and Post-Communion prayer of the day.
Luke 21: 20-28 (NRSVA):
[Jesus said:] 20 ‘When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. 21 Then those in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those inside the city must leave it, and those out in the country must not enter it; 22 for these are days of vengeance, as a fulfilment of all that is written. 23 Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing infants in those days! For there will be great distress on the earth and wrath against this people; 24 they will fall by the edge of the sword and be taken away as captives among all nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
25 ‘There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. 26 People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27 Then they will see “the Son of Man coming in a cloud” with power and great glory. 28 Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.’
Today’s reflection:
The scene for the Gospel reading at the Eucharist this morning (Luke 21: 20-28) has been set in the verses that immediately precede today’s reading. Christ is sitting in the Temple precincts, where he speaks about the Temple, the Nation, and the looming future.
Today’s Gospel reading includes frightening, terrifying words from Jesus, who says: ‘There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken’ (Luke 21: 25-26).
These are not the sort of comforting words that we might want to hear as we prepare for Advent Sunday and to begin the countdown to Christmas.
My generation is a generation that grew up with muffled sounds of apocalyptic fear, developed through listening to the whispered anxieties of parents and teachers. I was still only 10 when the Cuban Missile Crisis reached its height in October 1962, and I still remember asking, ‘Is this going to be the end of the world?’
The Cold War was at its height, and we were still less than two decades from the end of World War II. Of course, many people feared another world war was about to break out, with catastrophic consequences for the world.
The threat seemed to have abated for some time after the end of the Cold War. But it has come to the fore again in recent weeks with the re-election of Trump in the US. Meanwhile, despite the end of the Cold War, the stockpiles of nuclear weapons continue to grow and accumulate, both the US and Russia are walking away from key arms limitation agreements, and war is continuing in Ukraine, Russia, Israel, Gaza, the West Bank and Syria without any apparent respect for the international legal conventions and rules on the conduct of war.
A new generation also wonders whether the world is facing apocalyptic catastrophe because of climate change and the destruction of the planet. And all of us must fret for the future when we hear about the emergence of new variants of Covid-19, even though we have let down our guards and think vaccinations have made our lives safer.
These fears accumulate and multiply and they become:
• short-term fears: are we going to have a normal Christmas this year?
• medium-term fears: what uncertainty and destruction can Trump unleash over the next four years?
• long-term fears: what faces us all for the future?
In our fears and anxieties, we try to read the ‘signs of the times’ and wonder how to respond to ‘signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves.’
And yet, I realise how so self-obsessed I can be as I realise the immediate terror that continues to face people – families, fathers, mothers and children – who get caught in the precarious Channel crossing between France and England. How they must continue to be ‘confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves.’
All their hopes of a better life for themselves and their children, as they fled wars and persecutions in Iran, Syria, Afghanistan and North Africa, yet risk being drowned in one horrific, apocalyptic moment on the seas.
But even then, had they arrived on the shores of the land they hoped to reach, would they have been met with the compassion and care refugees ought to expect, not only in terms of Christian love, but under the terms of international law?
Have the riots we saw in recent months in both Britain and Ireland gone away? Or is there worse yet to come?
The Christmas Gospel is a reminder that Mary and Joseph and the Child Jesus were refugees too: Mary and Joseph were forced to move from Nazareth to Bethlehem in the cold of winter, yet found no welcome at the inn; and then, when the Child Jesus was born, they were forced to flee Herod, and seek exile in Egypt.
Where do we find hope as we wait in Advent for Christ at Christmas?
Our Gospel reading ends not in doom and disaster, but with the promise that Christ is coming. Our Advent faith is that Christ is coming in glory, and that with him he is bringing the Kingdom of God, with its promises of justice and mercy, peace and love.
Today’s Prayers (Thursday 28 November 2024):
The theme this week in ‘Pray With the World Church’, the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence’. This theme was introduced on Sunday with a Programme Update.
The USPG Prayer Diary today (Thursday 28 November 2024) invites us to pray:
Let us pray for all women, who despite suffering from abuse and violence, continue to care for family and children, manage their households, earn a living and offer support to others.
The Collect:
Eternal Father,
whose Son Jesus Christ ascended to the throne of heaven
that he might rule over all things as Lord and King:
keep the Church in the unity of the Spirit
and in the bond of peace,
and bring the whole created order to worship at his feet;
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Post Communion Prayer:
Stir up, O Lord,
the wills of your faithful people;
that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works,
may by you be plenteously rewarded;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Additional Collect:
God the Father,
help us to hear the call of Christ the King
and to follow in his service,
whose kingdom has no end;
for he reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, one glory.
Yesterday’s Reflection
Continued Tomorrow
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org
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