Scholars suggest that by the time Luke composed his gospel the temple had already been destroyed. This grand edifice, seemingly unmovable, adorned with costly stones that people were admiring in this passage was, by the time of Luke setting quill to parchment, just a heap of ruins. It demonstrates how quickly things can change and also how little we really know about what will happen tomorrow. We like to think we are in charge … but we are not.
Using the temple’s destruction and our Lord’s prophesying of that even as a springboard; today’s gospel (Lk. 21:5-19) invites us to go deep in the spiritual life.
There are levels to the spiritual life. Saints and mystics throughout the Church’s history testify to this. The first level and most basic is a level often caught up with outer things. The grandeur of a temple, the use of precious stones, only a certain style of music or liturgy in worship, only this type of devotional practice or prayer. Is there a value to the beauty of a church or worship or prayer? Certainly, that is not being denied but all of these exist in order to usher one into an encounter with the Divine. If they themselves become the focus then something is off-kilter. As a friend of mine once said, there is always the temptation to major in the minors.
We have all heard of the recent earthquakes that have hit Italy. In one of these earthquakes a beautiful church connected to St. Benedict completed collapsed. A picture I saw just had the front façade standing with all else behind it flattened out. Miraculously no person was killed when this happened. What I found inspiring was that as soon as the monks and nuns of the community whose church has been destroyed determined that everyone in their community was accounted for they went out into the larger area and began to minister to others in need – helping physically to dig people out of the rubble and also bringing the sacraments to people. They did this because they were rooted in something deeper than a building (an external).
The deeper reality our Lord is inviting each of us to in the journey of faith is relationship with him. There will be false predictions that the end is upon us, nation will rise against nation, and there will be earthquakes, famines, plagues and signs in the sky. These are all shifts in the greater turning of human history but there will also be personal shifts and turmoil. People will be led before kings, governors and all the different powers of the world and our lives. Families will be split and there will not be understanding. Christians will be hated. Yet in the midst of all this foretold turmoil of the history of our world and our own personal histories, our Lord – the one who foretold the destruction of the temple – says this, “Remember, you are not to prepare your defense beforehand, for I myself shall give you a wisdom in speaking that all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute.”
“…for I myself shall give you a wisdom in speaking…” The truth implied here in the midst of all the turmoils that this life brings is a living relationship with Christ. Remaining on the level of the external spiritually – while not really knowing the Lord or allowing him to know us – will not cut it when life gets tumultuous. In all seasons of life the Christian must root him or herself in relationship with Christ. Only in this relationship can be found the wisdom and perseverance that we need in life.
Our Lord listened as people who had no idea of what tomorrow would bring spoke admiringly of the temple. He asked them to move beyond the external to that which truly lasts. He asks us to do the same – to trust in him and to find life.
One of the truths revealed in today’s gospel (Lk. 15:1-10) is that our God is not a God content to let people remain anonymous. The shepherd goes out in search of the lost sheep because that one sheep truly matters to him. The woman turns the house over searching for the lost coin because that coin is of real concern to her. We are of concern to God. We are not alone in a vast universe governed by random chance. We do not have a God who does not care. God is willing to seek each one of us out, willing to even enter the darkness of sin and death, to find us and then rejoice in the finding!
It is not just what we say but it is also how we say it that is important. This is one of the many lessons I have learned from St. John Paul II. Like so many others I have found great insight and wisdom in the writings of Pope John Paul II. I first began to read the writings of this holy man during my time of seminary studies and his writings continue to inspire and challenge me to this day. John Paul II certainly pointed out and challenged the errors and falsehoods of his time but he never fell into nor immersed himself in negativity and I believe that this is an important point. St. John Paul II was always willing to point out the good in culture and in the world. He did this time and again in his writings just as much as he challenged falsehoods. This ability to recognize the good gives his writings and teachings an authenticity that others are often not able to achieve. 
Here are a few lines from the song “Awake My Soul” by Mumford and Sons.
You may be aware that World Youth Day is occurring in Krakow, Poland. World Youth Day is a gathering of the Church’s youth and young adults for days of catechesis, worship and prayer. The event culminates on Sunday with a Papal Mass. Pope Francis is in Krakow with the world’s young people. I have been viewing different images via social media from the gathering but what has struck me most is a six minute video of Pope Francis visiting the concentration camp at Auschwitz and taking some private moments of prayer in the cell which housed St. Maximillian Kolbe before his death. St. Maximillian Kolbe was a Catholic priest who volunteered his own life in order to let another prisoner live who was a husband and father. The video, which is all in silence, is almost surreal. (I have posted the video on our parish Facebook page.)
Pope Francis arrives simply at the cell as is his wont. He first peers into the darkened cell then steps in. A chair is brought in and the Holy Father sits and we are given this amazing image of the successor to St. Peter clad in white sitting in a darkened cell with his head bowed in prayer in this place of unimaginable horror.
“Who do the crowds say that I am?” “Who do you say that I am?” These questions of our Lord have continued down through history ever since he first asked them to that small group of followers. Every age has to pick up the question and find the answer. Every disciple has to answer the question and, I think, even in the life of disciple the answer shifts as we come to know more and more who Jesus is. (I know that it has for me.)
There are two scenes in the movie “Risen” that build upon one another. Both scenes involve the Roman tribune Clavius who has been assigned to investigate the empty tomb of Christ.
Today we celebrate Trinity Sunday and as Church we reflect for a moment on the greatest of mysteries – God is a communion of persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Here it is most helpful to remember the Christian understanding of mystery: mystery is not a puzzle to be figured out and then set aside but rather a reality to be lived and as we live the reality we, ourselves, are brought to deeper understanding. On our own accord we cannot reason our way to the Trinity. The Trinity is the ultimate truth both revealed and given and it is in living in this truth that we come to be grasped by it. Our faith affirms that the best way to live within the truth of the Trinity (to be grasped and moved by the mystery) is the way of love.
