November 12
He Must
Suffer Many Things
“Being asked by the Pharisees when
the kingdom of God was coming, he answered them, "The kingdom of God is
not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, `Behold, here it is!'
or `There!' for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you." And he
said to the disciples, "The days are coming when you will desire to see
one of the days of the Son of man, and you will not see it. And they will say
to you, `Behold, there!' or `Behold, here!' Do not go, do not follow them. For
as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so
will the Son of man be in his day. But first he must suffer many things
and be rejected by this generation.”
Reflection:
Jesus is going to come with little or no warning,
and while some of us can hardly wait for that day, others of us want to enjoy
the life the Lord has given us, and there is nothing wrong with that. We should
not be misunderstood here, because longing to be with Jesus is our top
priority, but our hearts and our lives here on earth can also serve Him very
well in the meantime. There are many people around us who need to be led to
Jesus, and while we cannot save anyone ourselves, we can plant seeds of hope in
Him and live in a way that gives them something real to witness. So, spend time
in prayer and in His Word, asking Jesus and the Holy Spirit to lead you to the
people He wants you to minister to.
The kingdom of God is truly in our midst, just as Jesus says in today’s Gospel,
because He has already died and risen in the hearts and lives of so many of us,
and that makes us His witnesses. Jesus suffered and was rejected by many so
that we could gain so much, and we should not be surprised if we are asked to
suffer and be rejected too, which means we must always be ready and willing to
share in His suffering out of our love for Him. There are people around the
world to this day who have died terrible deaths simply because they would not
deny Jesus, so it is worth asking ourselves whether we would stay bold in our
faith if a knife were held to our throat or a gun pressed against our head and
the only way out was to deny Him as our Lord and Savior.
I can tell you honestly that I would rather die than deny my faith and my love
for my Lord, because there is little point in living a life of faith if we are
not willing to defend what we believe, even at the cost of everything. Jesus
died so that we may live, and we should not be slow to believe only when it is
convenient or safe. Faith is not a light switch that we flip on when we want it
and flip off when we are too scared to tell anyone, so we have to trust that if
we keep the light of Jesus on all the time, He will protect us and keep us
secure as we do His will. He knows what is in our hearts and He knows our
fears, so simply trust Him fully, live a life that pleases Him, and let the
chips fall where they may, because some people will embrace you, some will mock
you, and some may even be cruel to you, and so be it, since all of it is for
His glory. It is Beneath the Standard of Mary that we learn how to stay
faithful when it costs us, because she stood at the foot of the cross and did
not run, and she stands with every one of her children who is trying to be
ready for her Son’s return.
Are you living in a way that gives the people around you something real to
witness about Jesus? If your faith cost you something this week, would you keep
the light on or switch it off? And who is the Lord asking you to plant a seed
of hope with today?
Rosary Man
Jim 🌹
Freely
given. Freely shared.
Side Note: You see in the picture that the Pharisees are wearing something on their heads, which are called tefillin or phylacteries, small, square black leather boxes containing tiny parchment scrolls inscribed with verses from the Hebrew Torah that devout men bound to their foreheads and arms during the day as a literal fulfillment of the biblical command to keep God's law constantly before their eyes and minds.
