Lk 21: 12-19
“But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. This will give you an opportunity to testify.
So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance; for I will give you words and a 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 they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name.
But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your souls.
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
Endings and Beginnings
Sometimes when I read Scripture I want to read something else. I want a different set of predictions and promises. Maybe what I want is a divine equivalent of “Homeland Security,” offering me certain protection and security into the future.
What Luke offers us today is an assurance of an end. And yet, we must remember, there are always endings…and beginnings! When my mother passed away in 2014 I experienced a profound end to my mother’s presence on earth. I then experienced a beginning in the form of a deeper relationship with my father.
When there are endings there are beginnings! And beginnings bring opportunities for freedom and new life! St. Ignatius’s life of chivalry ended when he convalesced from his battle injuries. What followed was the beginning of a pilgrim’s life with Christ.
Where in your own life have you experienced an ending and found a blessed beginning?
—Damian Torres-Botello, SJ, is a Jesuit Scholastic of the Midwest Province studying theology at Boston College School of Theology and Ministry; he will be ordained a priest on June 10, 2023.
Prayer
Lord God, who always shows us the way, help me see a renewed life in times of hard transition, grant me the strength to stand firm with you when endings seem daunting and beginnings seem far away. I pray this, trusting and believing in you, Amen.
—Damian Torres-Botello, SJ