Subject: Daily Gospel Reading - Friday, November 29, 2013

Weekday Gospel Reflection
word-sunday.com
Weekday Gospel Reflection
Friday in the Thirty Fourth Week of Ordinary Time

29 Jesus told them a parable. “See the fig tree, and all the trees. 30 When they are already budding, you see it and know by your own selves that the summer is already near. 31 Even so you also, when you see these things happening, know that God’s Kingdom is near. 32 Most certainly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things are accomplished. 33 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will by no means pass away.”

Luke 21:29-33 - World English Bible

In Luke 21, Jesus continued his monologue on the end times with a parable and a statement about fulfillment. People can tell the turn of the seasons with the change in tree leaves; why can't they discern the signs of the coming Kingdom? After this rhetorical analogy, he prophesied that “this” generation would not pass away until all these things were accomplished. What did he mean by that statement? Some interpret it not as a reference to the apostolic generation, but to the current populace. Of course, that is religious hubris. The apostolic generation closed with the death of the Twelve (along with St. Paul) and the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD. It marked a shift from evangelization in the marketplace to surviving criticism and persecution from Jew and pagan alike; it also marked a shift from the establishment of church communities to their maintenance, especially in the growth of church literature like the canonical gospels. Many saw those radical changes as the beginning of the end times; it certainly must have made sense to the audience of Luke's gospel at the end of the first century AD. But, regardless of end times speculation, we and early Christians alike believe Christ spoke his words for all generations.

What message from the gospel struck you today?

Daily Readings for the Last Week in Ordinary Time
Studies for the First Sunday in Advent
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God bless you and yours,

Larry Broding