Acting with perseverance for life

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today point to perseverance in our journey of faith as a path to deeper experience of our relationship with God.

Life in perseverance

The passage from the Book of Revelation presents an image of victorious witnesses to Christ.

* [15:1–4] A vision of the victorious martyrs precedes the vision of woe in Rev 15:5–16:21; cf. Rev 7:9–12.

In the midst of persecution, Jesus assures us of His presence in the text from the Gospel of Luke.

* [21:12] Before all this happens…: to Luke and his community, some of the signs of the end just described (Lk 21:10–11) still lie in the future. Now in dealing with the persecution of the disciples (Lk 21:12–19) and the destruction of Jerusalem (Lk 21:20–24) Luke is pointing to eschatological signs that have already been fulfilled.

Susan Naatz observes that every day we are exposed to news close to home and around the world. There are times when we can barely grasp the truth when we hear reports of violence and tragedy.

In today’s readings we are invited to turn to God and Jesus whose strength and works will heal our pain.  Today’s first reading is from the book of Revelation and the Book of Revelation's …basic message is that good will triumph over evil, have hope in Christ who will prevail, and faith during times of persecution.

Don Schwager quotes “The faithful Christian is recognized by belief in the resurrection of the body,” by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.

"We should have no doubt that our mortal flesh also will rise again at the end of the world... This is the Christian faith. This is the Catholic faith. This is the apostolic faith. Believe Christ when he says, 'Not a hair of your head shall perish' Putting aside all unbelief, consider how valuable you are. How can our Redeemer despise any person when he cannot despise a hair of that person's head? How are we going to doubt that he intends to give eternal life to our soul and body? He took on a soul and body in which to die for us, which he laid down for us when he died and which he took up again that we might not fear death." (excerpt from Sermon 214.11-12)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Revelation 15:1-4 notes St. Catherine Labouré (1806–1876), whose feast is today, is remembered as the saint who started the devotion to the Miraculous Medal in response to a vision of the Virgin Mary in 1830. But we should also honor Catherine for something much more ordinary.

Humbly and silently watching while the Miraculous Medal devotion spread worldwide, not taking credit for it: that was a victory for Catherine. Although Catherine wasn’t killed for her faith, she still “put to death” her own desires for fame or credit. In doing so, she was a witness to God’s power, and that’s what martyrdom is all about. Remember, the Greek word martyr means just that: witness.

Friar Jude Winkler describes the vision of the 144,000 singing the hymn to the Lamb, Christ, who is the centre of their lives. Persecution will occur. Jesus will give the word we need. Friar Jude explains that God Will protect us if they kill us but they will never harm us.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, shares the insight of Father Thomas Keating (1923–2018), who explained how prayer helps us access the joy of waking up to experiential union with God.

So life, then, is constant death and resurrection at every moment. We die to our own will and enter the present moment by consenting to whatever it is, either by accepting it or doing something that the Spirit suggests to improve the situation. This divine enlightening process sometimes gives us an Aha! experience. It’s still on the egoic level, so it’s penetrated with some misunderstandings, but nonetheless, this is what Alleluia means. “Aahh”—this is the primordial sound that that you hear in Allah or in Alleluia or in Aum [Om] as the Hindus put it. It’s waking up!

Difficulties with those who may oppose our faith practices are countered by persevering in faith and prayer through which we experience connection with the Divine.

References

(n.d.). Revelation chapter 15 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved November 28, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/revelation/15
(n.d.). Luke chapter 21 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved November 28, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/luke/21
(n.d.). Creighton U Daily Reflections .... Retrieved November 28, 2018, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved November 28, 2018, from https://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/
(n.d.). 34th Week in Ordinary Time< - Mass Readings and Catholic Daily .... Retrieved November 28, 2018, from https://wau.org/meditations/
(2017, December 30). 2018 Daily Meditations - Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved November 28, 2018, from https://cac.org/2018-daily-meditations/