33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year C

We are nearing the end of the Church Year: next Sunday is the Feast of Christ the King, and the week after is the First Sunday of Advent. In today's Gospel (Luke 21: 5-19), Jesus prepares us for the end of the world: When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, he said, “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.” How frightening his words can sound! You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name. And yet Jesus ends with comfort for us: By your endurance you will gain your souls.

Here is part of a letter written by St. Nilus of Ancyra, bishop and monastic writer (d. 430 AD) about patient endurance:

In time of trial it is of great profit to us patiently to endure for God’s sake, for the Lord says: By patient endurance you will win life for yourselves. He did not say by your fasting, or your solitude and silence, or your singing of psalms, although all of these are helpful in saving your soul. But he said: By patient endurance in every trial that overtakes you, and in every affliction, whether this be insolent and contemptuous treatment, or any kind of disgrace, either small or great; whether it be bodily weakness, or the belligerent attacks of Satan, or any trial whatsoever caused either by other people or by evil spirits.

...The Apostle writes: With patient endurance we run the race of faith set before us. For what has more power than virtue? What more firmness or strength than patient endurance? Endurance, that is, for God’s sake. This is the queen of virtues, the foundation of virtue, a haven of tranquillity. It is peace in time of war, calm in rough waters, safety amidst treachery and danger. It makes those who practise it stronger than steel. No weapons or brandished bows, no turbulent troops or advancing siege engines, no flying spears or arrows can shake it. Not even the host of evil spirits, nor the dark array of hostile powers, though the devil himself standing by with all his armies and devices will have power to injure the man or woman who has acquired this virtue through Christ.

Destruction of the Temple, Relief in the Arch of Titus, ca 81 AD