Faith Daily | 26 November 2021

PRAYER of the DAY - COLLECT PRAYER FOR THE WEEK BEFORE ADVENT

Stir up, we pray you, O Lord,

the wills of your faithful people,

that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works,

may by you be plenteously rewarded;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

GOSPEL for the Day: Luke 21: 29-33

29Then he told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees; 30as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near. 31So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. 32Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place. 33Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

GOSPEL Reflection: Contributed by: Paul McLaughlin

Jesus uses the parable of the budding fig tree to teach his followers that they already know how to read the signs of things to come. Nature is full of examples of how our observations inform our decisions and actions and he uses the fig tree to illustrate how the budding points to the coming of summer and changing of seasons.

Likewise, says Jesus, we can, if we want, see the signs pointing to the coming of the Kingdom of God.

The Kingdom of God is a concept referred to many times in the Bible and scholars seem to align with two main schools of thought regarding it. The first is that it describes the Christian lifestyle and is always available to us in the present. “For, you must know, the Kingdom of God is among you”(Luke 17: 21). A second view is that The Kingdom of God will come but is not fully disclosed. It is the final events of history or the ultimate destiny of humanity, sometimes mentioned as “The end of the world” or “end times”. There will be a day of judgement or reckoning.

Jesus tells us that each of us will pass away and even the world as we know it will pass away. Our current fears about devastating climate change involve the possibility of our world becoming uninhabitable. But Jesus’ words will endure. “Christ will come again”, we pray in the liturgy and “Thy kingdom come”. When we think upon the terrible events that occur in the world we hope and pray for God’s intervention. We believe the Kingdom of God is near.

FINAL PRAYER: Michael Leunig, from “The Prayer Tree”

We welcome summer and the glorious blessing of light.

We are rich with light; we are loved by the sun.

Let us empty our hearts into the brilliance.

Let us pour our darkness into the glorious, forgiving light.

For this loving abundance,

let us give thanks and offer our joy.

Amen.