Nov 24: Not a Hair of Your Head will Perish

Fra Angelico: The Blessed Dancing on the Way to Paradise (Detail from the Last Judgment)

Memorial of Saint Andrew Dung-Lac, priest and martyr,
and his companions, martyrs
Gospel: Lk 21:12-19

“You will be hated by all because of my name. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your souls(NRSV, Lk 21:17-19).”

Heavenly Father, I believe that I can always find you by turning within myself because you graciously dwell there in all your glory. But, because of my sinfulness and the limits imposed by time and space, it is not possible for me to comprehend the fullness of your gift and all that you require. We who are the community of the faithful, The Church, understand that the plenitude of your revelation is found most clearly expressed in the mystery of our Lord Jesus Christ whose “yes” to you is total. Jesus truly is for us the Way, the Truth and the Life. The Church, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, has recorded in Holy Writ, for all of humankind, its belief in the Lord Jesus. Of all four gospels, the last one written, the one attributed to John, speaks most eloquently to us of your glory, Father, made manifest in Jesus.

In John’s gospel, Jesus’ passion and death are his hour of glory. Jesus’ suffering and death are completely transfigured by his divine life. Jesus on the cross is not victim but victor. Father, the message of the Holy Spirit for us in the gospel of John, is that the life and power made manifest in Jesus, is also given to us that we may share in it. We too need never be victimized by our adversaries. We too need never surrender to death that is our undoing. Physical pain and physical death may be our lot because of the human condition but with your life to strength us, as it strengthened Jesus, we can be the victors as well in every circumstance. The life and power from you, Father, that we make our own, can also transfigure us so that pain and suffering will be unable finally to touch us and physical death will become a welcomed passage to a deeper and fuller life, with all the saints, in you, Father, with the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Alleluia. Amen.