Posted by The WORD in other words (2021) by Fr. Jong Biton, SVD (DWSTagaytay City)
Wednesday 34th Week in Ordinary Time
Photo: Centre Théophile Verbist, Mbudi, Kinshasa, Congo
“By your perseverance, you will secure your lives.”
In this last week of the liturgical calendar, this sentence is a powerful reminder of how we are to live and conduct ourselves until our last breath.
Last Sunday’s Feast of Christ the King, and this coming First Sunday of Advent sandwich the above text to remind us that, between Jesus’ first coming as savior-king and His second coming as judge-king, we live our lives in faithfulness and perseverance amidst all of life’s many challenges.
We may not experience the persecutions mentioned above, but our faithfulness is tested in many “courts” and before “kings and governors” of our time. The courts could be our homes and families, workplaces, etc., and the kings are the authorities and power influencers of our lives: our parents, teachers, bosses at work, friends, etc. In them, and before them, our faithfulness, our values, our belief systems may be challenged.
The challenges are many. For example, when you try your best, by honest, hard work to provide for your loved ones but cannot seem to meet the demands, will you continue to believe in a provident, merciful God, or will you give in to some corrupt practices to survive? Will you stick to your Christian values, or will you take a chance to bend some of it for financial gain?
How will this situation affect your testimony to God? What will you say about Him before your families and friends? Or, will you continue to hope and believe because you have seen and experienced His strong arms embracing you securely amidst life’s vicissitudes?
Will you break away, or will you persevere? Be faithful. Believe. Persevere. Did you not notice in the reading, “not a hair on your head is destroyed?”
