FW: “Lord, you are my refuge when things go wrong. Only in you can I find perfect peace!”

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Nov 26, 2013, 2:57:55 PM11/26/13

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Date: Tue, 26 Nov 2013 10:58:18 +0700
Subject: “Lord, you are my refuge when things go wrong. Only in you can I find perfect peace!”
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Mass Reading & Meditation for November 26, 2013

Meditation: Luke 21:5-11

34th Week in Ordinary Time

The days will come when there will not be left a stone upon another stone. (Luke 21:6)

If you’ve been to the movies recently, you’ve probably noticed that the world seems to be ending a lot lately! In World War Z, the earth is threatened by zombies who are victims of a global pandemic. When the film Oblivion opens, our planet is already a wasteland. In Man of Steel, Superman has to save the world from destruction by aliens. The fact that these films are so popular may well be a sign that people are looking at the world today and not finding much hope for the future.

But Jesus would advise us to look at the “signs of the times” differently. When we hear of wars and global catastrophes, we shouldn’t be terrified. When films and television shows try to whip up a fear of the end times, we shouldn’t listen to them (Luke 21:8-9). Of course, we shouldn’t try to ignore reality when a very disturbing event takes place. But we should also know that none of these are the end. They’re not even what the end is going to look like!

In fact, the end is really a beginning, and it isn’t something we should fear. Why? Because that’s when Jesus returns in glory! Yes, some catastrophic events may take place before that day. But Jesus tells us that they are “labor pains,” (Matthew 24:8). They are necessary because the world isn’t ready for Jesus to come back yet. But if we keep our hearts fixed on the Lord, we can be ready. He will keep us in perfect peace if we put our trust in him (Isaiah 26:3).

How do we maintain that peace? When negative and despairing thoughts come, remind yourself of his promises. You don’t have to fear “the terror of the night nor the arrow that flies by day” (Psalm 91:5). You can call out to the Lord, “My rock, my fortress, my deliverer” (2 Samuel 22:2). Tell yourself that no matter what happens, Jesus will “never fail you or forsake you” (Deuteronomy 31:6). Your mind is where the battle rages most fiercely, not the world. So take those thoughts captive, and rest in his mercy!

“Lord, you are my refuge when things go wrong. Only in you can I find perfect peace!”

Daniel 2:31-45; (Psalm) Daniel 3:57-61

Today’s reading…

November 26, 2013

Tuesday of the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time

Reading 1 Dn 2:31-45 Daniel said to Nebuchadnezzar:

“In your vision, O king, you saw a statue,

very large and exceedingly bright,

terrifying in appearance as it stood before you.

The head of the statue was pure gold,

its chest and arms were silver,

its belly and thighs bronze, the legs iron,

its feet partly iron and partly tile.

While you looked at the statue,

a stone which was hewn from a mountain

without a hand being put to it,

struck its iron and tile feet, breaking them in pieces.

The iron, tile, bronze, silver, and gold all crumbled at once,

fine as the chaff on the threshing floor in summer,

and the wind blew them away without leaving a trace.

But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain

and filled the whole earth.

“This was the dream;

the interpretation we shall also give in the king’s presence.

You, O king, are the king of kings;

to you the God of heaven

has given dominion and strength, power and glory;

men, wild beasts, and birds of the air, wherever they may dwell,

he has handed over to you, making you ruler over them all;

you are the head of gold.

Another kingdom shall take your place, inferior to yours,

then a third kingdom, of bronze,

which shall rule over the whole earth.

There shall be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron;

it shall break in pieces and subdue all these others,

just as iron breaks in pieces and crushes everything else.

The feet and toes you saw, partly of potter’s tile and partly of iron,

mean that it shall be a divided kingdom,

but yet have some of the hardness of iron.

As you saw the iron mixed with clay tile,

and the toes partly iron and partly tile,

the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile.

The iron mixed with clay tile

means that they shall seal their alliances by intermarriage,

but they shall not stay united, any more than iron mixes with clay.

In the lifetime of those kings

the God of heaven will set up a kingdom

that shall never be destroyed or delivered up to another people;

rather, it shall break in pieces all these kingdoms

and put an end to them, and it shall stand forever.

That is the meaning of the stone you saw hewn from the mountain

without a hand being put to it,

which broke in pieces the tile, iron, bronze, silver, and gold.

The great God has revealed to the king what shall be in the future;

this is exactly what you dreamed, and its meaning is sure.”

Responsorial Psalm Dn 3:57, 58, 59, 60, 61 R. (59b) Give glory and eternal praise to him.

“Bless the Lord, all you works of the Lord,

praise and exalt him above all forever.”