Wednesday, November 23, 2016 First Reading: Rv 15: 1-4 Gospel Reading:Lk 21:12-19
Jesus said, “Before all this happens, people will lay their hands on you and persecute you; you will be delivered to the Jewish courts and put in prison, and for my sake you will be brought before kings and governors. This will be your opportunity to bear witness.
“So keep this in mind: do not worry in advance about what to answer, for I will give you words and wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict.
“You will be betrayed even by parents, and brothers, by relatives and friends, and some of you will be put to death. But even though you are hated by all for my name’s sake, not a hair of your head will perish. Through perseverance you will possess your own selves.”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the
Assimilated Life
Experience)
By itself betrayal is painful. What more can be said of one qualified as coming from persons closest to us? But one perseveres if he has great love for the beloved-turned-traitor. Consider this story. A wife betrayed her husband. On the day she decided to leave she went to the bank to empty the family’s joint bank account. The bank manager who knew about the rift between the two, informed the husband by phone about the withdrawal. The husband gave his permission saying, “After the greatest pain of betrayal, what pain is there that I could not bear for the sake of my love for her?”
We can expect betrayals to the maximum. Jesus said, “You will be betrayed even by parents, and brothers, by relatives and friends…” Love is the key to perseverance. If we cannot love the traitor, we can love God, and that love is potent enough to see us through. Human weakness may make us chicken out. At this point God comes in with his grace. He said,“But even though you are hated by all for my name’s sake, not a hair of your head will perish. Through perseverance you will possess your own selves.”
Human weakness, then, is not a legitimate justification to throw the towel in. Enough grace was infused upon us at baptism. Those who give in to human weakness and stop struggling are guilty of betrayal of the grace that God made available at baptism. Didn’t we say that betrayal from loved ones is painful? It is even for God. When we start throwing up the sponge, we become the very traitors we fear. And God becomes the person betrayed. But he will still remain faithful even if we become unfaithful, for he cannot deny himself (2 Timothy, 2:13). When we remain faithful despite betrayals we become like God. –(Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM., MAPM., MMExM., REB., Email: [email protected].
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