11/22/2016 - Tuesday of the 34th week in Ordinary Time - St Cecilia - Luke 21:5-11

     We are journeying in our last few days of Ordinary Time as we approach the beginning of Advent and the first Sunday of the Church’s new liturgical year. Today’s reading hopefully sounds familiar - we just heard it a week and a half ago as the Gospel for the 33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time. The Temple in Jerusalem during the time of Jesus was one of the most magnificent buildings in the entire ancient world.  As people who admiring its beauty, as Jesus was foretelling the Temple’s destruction, we can just imagine the shock and skepticism the ancient Jews had. Just think how just a few years before the destruction of the World Trade Center in New York on 9/11, how we would have felt such disbelief if someone had foretold of the destruction of that great center of the financial might of the West.  In Jesus’ day and our day as well, there are conspiracy theorists and others who think they can predict events such as the end of the world. Yet, just 40 years after Jesus made this prediction, the Jews of Ancient Israel saw the destruction of the Temple and the entire city of Jerusalem.  It must have seemed like the end of the world to them. They could not have imagine their world without the Temple, the center of their Jewish faith, the place where they encountered God in a very real way. How could Yahweh allow such a thing to happen. Yet, Jesus warns us that we should not misread the signs and that we should not become too paranoid or alarmed.   The Christians of the first century were certain that the end times would come in their lifetime.  Now, 2,000 later, we still wait.  The 20th century witnessed many wars and natural disasters.  We know that those things will continue.  Yet, with Christ as our Savior, we continue our journey, we believe and we endure.  We will make it to the next day in faith. 

      I would be remiss if I did not mention the saint of the day - St Cecilia.  Not much tangible is known about her, even though she was one of the most famous Roman martyrs venerated in the Early Church.  According to Tradition, Cecilia was from an influential Roman family.  She converted her fiancé to the Christian faith, but Cecilia, her fiancé, and his brother were all martyred.  Tradition also holds that there was a church named after her in Rome in the early days of Christianity.  Although we are not sure of its origin, Cecilia is the patron saint of musicians.  We unite our prayers with the intercessions of St Cecilia today.  We pray for our Church musicians.