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Today is Tuesday, the 26 November, the feast of St John Berchmans SJ, in the Thirty Fourth Week of Ordinary Time.

The community of Taizé sing, Nada te turbe:  ‘Let nothing trouble you or make you afraid. Those who have God will lack nothing. God alone is enough.’

Today’s reading is from the Gospel of Luke.

Jesus moves outside the city of Jerusalem, and a few of his chosen disciples come with him.  From where they are, they get a clear view of the temple, Herod’s temple, one of the wonders of the ancient world, took forty seven years to build.  Do you ever stop to stare and wonder at a marvelous building, or at a fantastic bridge? Can you understand just how radical Jesus’ suggestion that there will be not a stone left standing?

What Jesus says about the temple being all bound to be destroyed and to come to nothing came true, true of the temple and true of most other famous buildings of the ancient world.  Was Jesus just being negative, or can you see what is in his mind for the future?  How do you imagine his tone of voice when you hear his words in this passage?

Do you notice how calmly Jesus seems to take all these disasters?  Does he think they herald the end of the world?  Does he blame God, his Father, as if God was the cause of them?  Does he stop believing in the goodness and the love of God, or does he ask his Father to help him cope with things that go badly wrong?

Christians as living stones, being built one upon another into a new and everlasting temple. Listen to the passage again, and catch the message behind the picture.

As this prayer comes to an end, ask God for the graces you need to become a living stone, bringing the Good News of Jesus to others.