Today's gospel is curious as it proclaims a prophesy already fulfilled. Christ talks about the Temple not having one stone upon another, about a time of persecuting Christians, about a new order. But Luke, Paul's "beloved physician," was writing--most believe--in 70 A.D.. That is after the persecutions in Rome began, after the destruction of the Temple. This surely would not have impressed anyone; any biographer could put words into a prophet's mouth after the fact. But the prophesy is not the point, it is the advice on how to live that follows. Christ urges "patience." Fortitude. Desolation comes (and goes) but "patience" implies confidence in a structure, a continuity in life. "In your patience you will possess your souls."
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