A reading from the prophet Jeremiah (33:14-16)
“Look, the days are coming – declares the Lord – when I shall fulfil the promise of happiness I made to the House of Israel and the House of Judah:
In those days and at that time,
I shall make a righteous Branch grow for David
who will do what is just and righteous in the land.
In those days Judah will triumph
and Jerusalem live in safety.
And this is the name the city will be called:
The-Lord-is-our-Saving-Justice.”
The prophet Jeremiah announces that God will fulfil the ‘promise of happiness’, the ‘good word’ (dabar tob), he had spoken. Jeremiah tells of a ‘Branch’ (tsemah), an appropriate living symbol of a righteous ruler from the stock, the line, of David. ‘Justice’ (mishpat) and ‘righteousness’ (tsedaqah) are constantly associated with the desired ruler. The rebuilt kingdom of Judah and its capital, Jerusalem, destroyed by the Babylonians, will be re-established. The name of the final king of Judah, Zedekiah, meant ‘the Lord is my justice’, but he had failed to live out that justice and had rejected the word of the prophet. The ‘saving justice’ (tsedeq) of God will be found in days to come in the life of the city, rebuilt and renewed.
Psalm 25 (24) The psalm too speaks of the true ways of the Lord, which are proclaimed as ‘faithfulness’ and ‘love’.
A reading from the first letter of St Paul to the Thessalonians (3:12-4:2)
May the Lord fill you to overflowing with love for each other and for all, just as our love for you overflows. And may he so confirm your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless in the sight of our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.
Finally, brothers and sisters, we urge you and appeal to you in the Lord Jesus that, as we instructed you how to live in the way that pleases God, so you should also live so as to make more progress still. You know what instructions we gave you on the authority of the Lord Jesus.
Paul speaks of an overflowing of love (agape) between Christians and beyond the Christian family, and of his love for the Christians of Thessalonika. This is coupled with the holiness (hagiosyne) which comes from a blameless life. In this way Christians should prepare for the coming (parousia) of the Lord ‘with all his saints’. The teaching of Paul, given with the authority of the Lord Jesus, is to be the guide in making more and more progress in the life of faith.
A reading from the holy gospel according to Luke (21:25-28,34-36)
Jesus said to his disciples: ‘There will be signs in the sun and moon and stars; on earth distress among nations in confusion at the roaring of the sea and waves, as people faint from fear and expectation of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to take place, stand erect, hold your heads high, because your liberation is drawing near.
‘Watch yourselves, so that your hearts are not weighed down by debauchery and drunkenness and the cares of life, and that day comes upon you unexpectedly, like a trap. For it will come upon all those living on the face of the whole earth. Stay awake, praying at all times that you may have the strength to escape all these things that are going to happen, and to take your stand before the Son of man.’
These lines are from the concluding words of Jesus’ discourse about the future and the end. He has spoken of the destruction of Jerusalem, and now speaks of terrifying cosmic events, distress and confusion among the nations. This is the prelude to the high point of these events, the return of the Son of Man, coming on the clouds (Daniel 7:13). At this point Christians should ‘stand erect’ and ‘hold their heads high’, for this is the moment of ‘liberation’ (apolutrosis). The final words are another encouragement to stay awake, lest the day springs on them ‘like a trap’, and, crucially in Luke’s gospel, to ‘pray at all times’, as they wait for the coming of the Lord.
How does faith help us amid the dire fears facing humanity?
Pray for the courage to prefer the words of Jesus to the temptations of the world.