Victory and Power to the Lord

WORD 2day: Thursday, 34th week in Ordinary Time

November 24, 2022: Revelation 18:1-2,21-23,19:1-3,9; Luke 21:20-28

Reacting to the first reading of today, many take off with imaginations and guesses as to who is referred to as the whore and who is the condemned. There are so many of the non-catholic denominations today who point an accusing finger with a heartless judgement: the Catholic Church is the Babylon of the Apocalypse! This kind of a finger-pointing and childish pickering is definitely not the purpose of these descriptions in the book...it is not intended as solving some mystery puzzle!

The simple message that these imageries have, is a challenge to make a choice, a choice for God. Amidst all the dreadful things that happen around, we are called to remain firm in the Lord. Amidst all the inexplicable evil around, we are called to side with the truth and fearlessly face the consequences that could arise. Amidst all the dark powers that seemingly dominate the scene in the world today, we are called to firmly believe that the victory and power belong to Our Lord!

To say victory and power belong to God, we need to feel ourselves as instruments in the hands of God when we are able to accomplish things, we need to recognise the hand of God when others are able to accomplish things, we need to accept the intervention of God when we are offered a criticism or correction in a particular situation. It is not enough to just say those words as a cliche or a formula, but it has to become our outlook on life and all its situation - that victory and power always belong to God!