Opinion and Hope
5When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with
beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, he said, 6"As for these things that you see, the days will come when
not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down."
7They asked him, "Teacher, when
will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?" 8And he said, "Beware that you are not led astray; for many
will come in my name and say, 'I am he!' and, 'The time is near!' Do not go
after them.
9"When you hear of wars and
insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but
the end will not follow immediately." 10Then he said to them, "Nation
will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; 11there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines
and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven.
12"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. 13This will give you an opportunity to testify. 14So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance; 15for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your
opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. 16You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives
and friends; and they will put some of you to death. 17You will be hated by all because of my name. 18But not a hair of your head will perish. 19By your endurance you will gain your souls.
Luke 21:5-19
Paul in Prison
VAN RIJN, Rembrandt Harmenszoon
1627
StaatsgalerieStuttgart
Stuttgart
Germany
This is one of Rembrandt's earliest known panels, made in the year that he turned 21. It shows the apostle St. Paul in prison, lost in thought. Obviously the harsh conditions in jail did not stop him from trying to achieve his mission. The pen in his left hand suggests that he was writing one of his many letters.
Paul is depicted in traditional manner: long beard, bald head, and with his distinctive attribute: the sword, quite remarkable given the context.
< >The sword has several meanings:
- a
reference to his martyrdom: the Romans killed him with a sword;
- his
previous life, as a persecutor of Christians;
- in
his letter to the Ephesians (6:17)Paul
calls God's word "the sword of the Spirit".
You can preach a better sermon with your life
than with your lips.
~
Oliver Goldsmith
Men
trust their eyes rather than their ears;
the
road by precept is long and tedious,
by
example short and effectual.
~
Seneca
Chew and Chat
At
Jin Asian Fusion
Sondra
Kellogg, Karla Byrd, Marilee Ross, Carolyn Alexander
Robin
Sakamoto with her Ikebana professor.
The
sign reads:
"Professor of Ikenobo
Flower Arrangement”
followed by her name.
(Achieving
the title of professor requires rigorous study
and
is a mark of high honor and expertise in Ikenobo Ikebana.)
Opinion is really the lowest
form of human knowledge.
It requires no accountability,
no understanding.
The highest form of knowledge
is empathy,
for it requires us to suspend
our egos
and live in another’s world.
It requires profound purpose
larger
than the self kind of
understanding.
~ Bill Bullard *
November 9, 2025 Twenty-third
Sunday after Pentecost - Year C - [Prop.
28C]
Previous OPQs may be found at:
*
Based
on a quote by George Eliot.
Sometimes attributed to
Plato …
See, the day is coming, burning like an
oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble; the day that
comes shall burn them up, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them
neither root nor branch.
But for you who revere my name the sun of
righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings.
Malachi 4:1-2a
Agnus Day, by
James Weinstein
Agnus
Day appears with the permission of www.agnusday.org
LECTIONARY
Isaiah 65:17-25 and Isaiah 12 or ...
Malachi 4:1-2a and Psalm 98
2 Thessalonians 3:6-13
Luke 21:5-19
“The days will come when there will not be left a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down . . .
“I myself shall give you a wisdom in speaking that all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute.”
Luke 21: 5-19THE WORD:
Many Jews believed that the end of the world would be signaled by the destruction of the great temple at Jerusalem. That is exactly what happened in the year 70 A.D., when more than a million Jews were killed in a desperate siege of Jerusalem by the Romans. It is against this background of this event that Luke writes his life of Jesus.
In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus predicts the destruction of the temple and a chronicle of catastrophes. But Jesus does not teach dread here but hope. Trying to calculate the end of time is a waste of time; the signs of the apocalypse – war, plague, earthquakes – will appear in every age and there always will be self-proclaimed “messiahs” who will manipulate such events for their own power. Jesus assures his followers that those who remain faithful to the vocation of discipleship will have nothing to fear when the end comes.
First Reading Isaiah 65:17-25
17For
I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; the former things shall not
be remembered or come to mind. 18But be glad and rejoice forever in
what I am creating; for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy, and its people
as a delight. 19I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and
delight in my people; no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it, or the
cry of distress. 20No more shall there be in it an
infant that lives but a few days, or an old person who does not live out a
lifetime; for one who dies at a hundred years will be considered a youth, and
one who falls short of a hundred will be considered accursed. 21They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant
vineyards and eat their fruit. 22They shall not build and another
inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for like the days of a tree
shall the days of my people be, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of
their hands. 23They shall not labor in vain, or
bear children for calamity; for they shall be offspring blessed by the LORD-and
their descendants as well. 24Before they call I will answer,
while they are yet speaking I will hear. 25The wolf and the lamb shall feed
together, the lion shall eat straw like the ox; but the serpent-its food shall
be dust! They shall not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain, says the LORD.
1You
will say in that day: I will give thanks to you, O LORD, for though you were
angry with me, your anger turned away, and you comforted me. 2Surely God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be
afraid, for the LORD GOD is my strength and my might; he has become my
salvation.
3With joy you will draw water from
the wells of salvation. 4And you will say in that day: Give
thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known his deeds among the nations;
proclaim that his name is exalted.
5Sing praises to the LORD, for he
has done gloriously; let this be known in all the earth. 6Shout aloud and sing for joy, O royal Zion, for great in your
midst is the Holy One of Israel.
Second
Reading 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13
6Now
we command you, beloved, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away
from believers who are living in idleness and not according to the tradition
that they received from us. 7For you yourselves know how you
ought to imitate us; we were not idle when we were with you, 8and we did not eat anyone's bread without paying for it; but
with toil and labor we worked night and day, so that we might not burden any of
you. 9This was not because we do not have that right, but in order to
give you an example to imitate. 10For even when we were with you, we
gave you this command: Anyone unwilling to work should not eat.
11For we hear that some of you are
living in idleness, mere busybodies, not doing any work. 12Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ
to do their work quietly and to earn their own living. 13Brothers and sisters, do not be weary in doing what is right.
5When
some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones
and gifts dedicated to God, he said, 6"As for these things that you
see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will
be thrown down."
7They asked him, "Teacher, when
will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?" 8And he said, "Beware that you are not led astray; for many
will come in my name and say, 'I am he!' and, 'The time is near!' Do not go
after them.
9"When you hear of wars and
insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but
the end will not follow immediately." 10Then he said to them, "Nation
will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; 11there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines
and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven.
12"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. 13This will give you an opportunity to testify. 14So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance; 15for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your
opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. 16You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives
and friends; and they will put some of you to death. 17You will be hated by all because of my name. 18But not a hair of your head will perish. 19By your endurance you will gain your souls.