The end is near!

My dear friends in Christ,

The sky is falling! The end is near! In today’s Gospel, people admire the Temple’s magnificence as Jesus looks on. He then predicts: “All that you see here, the days will come when there will not be left a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down.” By the time Luke records these words from Jesus the event He’s referring to has happened. It would be natural then for Luke’s audience that now the end is near! But Luke wishes to separate the Temple’s destruction from the end times and Christ’s return. And so Luke follows Mark’s Gospel in not linking directly those two events. Jesus wants His followers not to misunderstand the signs. There will be destruction, wars, insurrections, earthquakes, famines, and plagues. Believers will face internal conflicts and external persecutions. Jesus wants His followers to know that He will be with them and strengthen them and will never abandon them.

Tickets for the Christmas Dinner Dance are being sold after all Masses. Also, there are plenty of Super 50/50 Raffle tickets available in the office if you would like more or would like to sell an extra book to a friend or work colleague.

Baskets are needed for the basket auction part of the Christmas Dinner Dance. If you would like to donate items or make a basket, please contact Linda Hickey at 609.239.3590 to arrange a drop-off or pick-up. And finally, I will be going on my canonical retreat and am off to see our old friend Father Lennon at the Headquarters of the Society of The Divine Word in Techny, Illinois. I will carry your warm wishes with me.

May God bless you all!

Father John