St. Andrew Dung-Lac, priest  & Companions, martyrs

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊

Revelation 14:14-19

Then I had this vision.

I saw a white cloud and the one sitting on it like a son of man, wearing a golden crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. An angel came out of the sanctuary, calling loudly to the one sitting on the cloud, “Put in your sickle and reap, for harvest time has come and the har­vest of the earth is ripe.” He who was sitting on the cloud swung his sickle at the earth and reaped the harvest.

 Then another angel, who also had a sharp sickle, came out of the heavenly sanctuary. Still another angel, the one who has charge of the altar fire, emerged and shouted to the first who held the sharp sickle, “Swing your sharp sickle and reap the bunches of the vine of the earth for they are fully ripe.” So the angel swung his sickle and gathered in the vintage, throwing all the grapes into the great winepress of the anger of God.

 

Ps 96:10, 11-12, 13

The Lord comes to judge the earth.

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊

Luke 21:5-11

 While some people were talking about the Temple, remarking that it was adorned with fine stonework and rich gifts, Jesus said to them, “The days will come when there shall not be left one stone upon another of all that you now admire; all will be torn down.” And they asked him, “Master, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?”

 Jesus then said, “Take care not to be deceived, for many will come claiming my title and saying: ‘I am he, the Messiah; the time is at hand.’ Do not follow them. When you hear of wars and troubled times, don’t be frightened; for all this must happen first, even though the end is not so soon.”

 And Jesus said, “Nations will fight each other and kingdom will op­pose kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, famines and plagues; in many places strange and terrifying signs from heaven will be seen.

 

Gospel Reflection：

Verse 15 of the first reading is about the harvest that may include both the righteous (Matthew 9:37-38; Mark 4:29; John 4:35-38) and the unrighteous (Matthew 13:30, 40=42; also Jeremiah 51:33; Hosea 6:11). This is a general picture of coming judgment.

While in verse 19 “The winepress of the wrath of God,” indicates that this is surely not a mixed harvest, but stressed the violent carnage of the judgment of the Messiah at his coming (Revelation 19:11-21; Joel 3:13-14; Isaiah 63:3; Lamentations 1:15).

In the gospel, the disciples see the external adornment, but fail to see the spiritual bankruptcy behind the façade – the hypocrisy – the oppression the rejection of the Messiah and the Gospel and the impending death of God’s Son at the hands of the religious authorities.