Change is Coming

All good things must come to an end.  But so too will bad things.

As Jesus came out of the temple and was going away, his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. Then he asked them, ‘You see all these, do you not? Truly I tell you, not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.’ When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, ‘Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Beware that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, “I am the Messiah!” and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not alarmed; for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places: all this is but the beginning of the birth pangs. ‘Then they will hand you over to be tortured and will put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of my name. Then many will fall away, and they will betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because of the increase of lawlessness, the love of many will grow cold. But anyone who endures to the end will be saved. And this good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the world, as a testimony to all the nations; and then the end will come. - Matthew 24:1-14

The message in today's Gospel seems awfully bleak.  Change is coming and it won't be nice.

Throughout every generation, people have claimed this is the end time.  The way we are treating each other is just what Jesus was talking about.  And they were right, and we are right to think the same is true today.  So, what does that mean?

Is the world coming to an end or not?

At some point, it will, but I think what is more important is this time of trial we are in now will end before that and the next period will be different, for better or worse.

Change happens with or without our involvement.  People come along who claim to be the one we should follow and then they fall by the wayside.  But throughout it all, Jesus remains constant.  God is with us.  That is what he came to show us through his presence.

We are not alone through this.  And that is good news.

So, no matter what we are going through now, we should hold on to our faith.  God will not abandon us.  We are the ones who do that.

More to come...