HW: Don't be afraid of the reasurrance of faith.

A reflection on Luke 21:5-19, written and spoken by Kieran J. O'Mahony, OSA.

Gentle piano music to close the meditation

Transcript

John’s Lane
D08 F8NW
16 November 2025
Luke 21:5-19: Don’t be afraid of the reassurance of faith

Welcome
Our Gospel reading matches our times in an unsettling way: wars, natural phenomena, plagues, dislocation. There is no need to exaggerate the challenges: climate change, a European war, politics, plagues, refugees, even the on-going CSA crisis in society and church. It would be easy — even understandable — to lose heart.

Topic
As we wonder what sustains us, it is my hope that today’s Gospel can be of direct help.

Steps
About two hundred years before the time of Jesus, a spiritual movement arose in Judaism. It was a time of war, upheaval, famine and religious persecution. Persecution on grounds of religion is a rarity in the ancient world. But at the time, at least some Jews were faced with martyrdom. Naturally, a question arose which can sound very contemporary. Thoughtful people asked themselves “where is God in the mess?” “How are we supposed to live through these times?” The ancient Jews, our ancestors in the faith, gave three fairly gritty answers:

In spite of appearances, they affirmed the faithfulness of God, even though no one could feel it at the time or could barely picture it. God would eventually show himself to be just and his faithfulness would be revealed — the literal meaning of apocalyptic.

The second affirmation also went against the grain: in spite of the terrible times, God was asking them to be in their turn steadfast and faithful. We would say, hang on in there.

The third affirmation was a surprise: their living through these times was a participation of what is to come. They even used the language of labour pains: suffering now for a new birth. How they were to live through it all mattered and would shape the future. The pain would not be wasted.

In a word, in unprecedented times, the ancient Jews galvanised their faith, in the conviction that — somehow — God was in the mess. They didn’t have the benefit, as we do, of the message, ministry and destiny of Jesus himself. But still, they held on to their faith in a God of goodness, faithfulness and justice, all part of what came to be known as apocalypticism. 

This is the vision which lies behind the peculiar mixture of realism and faith we find in the Gospel today. Like all apocalypticism, the reading brings together a gritty realism and a firm call to faith. Reality is to be affirmed and is unavoidable in any case. Faith, or even better faithfulness, is invited. Just to spell it out, here are the key words of encouragement: 

• do not be frightened,
• that will be your opportunity to bear witness.
• not a hair of your head will be lost. 
• Your endurance will win you your lives.’

These are words of great reassurance.

In a different context, St Paul offers the same reassurance. Writing at the end of Romans chapter 8, he speaks powerfully and poetically:

Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will trouble, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we encounter death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we have complete victory through him who loved us! For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor heavenly rulers, nor things that are present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35–39 NET)

Conclusion
It would be easy to think, this is some sort of escapism, a kind of self-administered narcotic. But our faith in Christ is both grounded and practical. We believe God was in Jesus reconciling the world to himself. We believe, Jesus is God’s resounding and everlasting yes to humanity. We believe that evil, suffering and death are not the last word: instead, goodness, well-being and life, in a word, love, will have the last word. Such conviction gives us the courage not to lose heart, to continue to work for good, always to have hope. Our faith is finally not escapist: instead it sustains us and frees us to engage in the world as it is, working for its transformation even now.