Father Randy Koenigsknecht
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As the Church nears the end of the liturgical year, we enter a season marked by themes of eternity, judgment, and the hope of Christ’s return. In this week’s homily, Father Randy helps us reflect on the Scriptures that point to the destruction of the Temple, the trials faced by the early Christians, and Jesus’ call to trust and perseverance.
By looking at how Jesus’ prophecies were fulfilled in history, we gain confidence in His promises today. Father Randy invites us to meet fear with trust, to deepen our relationship with God, and to remain steadfast in the mission Christ gives us.
Read, watch, or listen to this powerful message and be encouraged to anchor your life in Christ—no matter what the world brings.
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Father Randy: So this may come as a shock to some, but really this is actually my favorite kind of liturgical season. It’s like the weather outside is normally pretty cold, it’s kind of gray, everything green is dying. And then in the readings throughout November, we get to hear about and we explore the last things. Heaven, hell, judgment, so on. So the outside world more or less just perfectly mirrors and sets up this atmosphere for diving into these weightier topics.
Father Randy: And then, of course, there’s also just great movement throughout the season. As this week, we’re going to hear about judgment, how to prepare ourselves for Jesus’ triumphant return, what we should be doing. And then next week, we actually celebrate that. We celebrate the Feast of Christ the King, Jesus, King of the Universe. And that itself looks ahead to Advent and Christmas. When Jesus came, as we also look ahead to his second coming at every Christmas as well.
Father Randy: So all these themes just roll from one to the next and they help us to be prepared. But today’s readings give us these warnings about what we ought to expect because we’re in this waiting period. You know, Jesus has come, he’s died, he’s risen, he’s given us the Holy Spirit. The kingdom of God is already present among us in some way but not fully. You know, we see all the effects of sin in our lives, we see the division in the world — all these things. So we’re living more or less with one step in both worlds, the old and the new.
Father Randy: And so he gives us this guidance on what we ought to do in the midst of all the trials and the events that are going to occur, that he warns us about — events that have already occurred for some and some that are yet to come. And so in the gospel today, Jesus is teaching in the temple. And some of those around him are commenting just how beautiful and how priceless it is. And as Father Chaz mentioned last week, the temple for the Jewish people is the one place where God physically dwelled on earth.
Father Randy: If you wanted to get close to God, you had to go to the temple. And so when Jesus tells them that the temple is going to be so totally destroyed that not even a stone will be left standing on another stone, that’s world-shattering. We know that God will no longer just dwell in the temple, but he’ll come and dwell in our hearts in the Holy Spirit. He’ll give us the Eucharist so he can be everywhere in every tabernacle and that he can be wherever we go when we receive him. But they don’t know that.
Father Randy: And so they’re very concerned. They ask him that natural follow-up question, like, “Is this going to happen now? Is it going to happen down the road? Do we need to pack our bags and get out of town?” Because they want to take him seriously. And so in response to this question, Jesus gives kind of a shockingly clear answer, actually. He walks them through various events and signs that are going to happen first. And that’s why this reading has all these apocalyptic prophecies — he’s actually telling them what’s going to happen.
Father Randy: And so what I find really interesting is when we read this passage, we can actually look back at history and we can see that what he said was true. That the events that he prophesied did in fact come to pass leading up to the destruction of the temple in 70 AD. So let’s just walk briefly through what he told his disciples and then we can see how we can apply that guidance to our own day. So first, Jesus warns them against following people who claim that they are him.
Father Randy: Or that he’s already returning, he’s about to, he’s already come. So we hear about this in the letter to the Thessalonians. Why are the Thessalonians, some of them, being lazy and not doing any work? Because they think Jesus is back. They think that the end is pretty much here, so why do they need to work? You know, there’s no point in doing more. He’s already — the end has come. So we can just be satisfied, right?
Father Randy: And then we also hear about this Egyptian pretender who lured around a couple thousand followers, and then the Romans eventually wiped them out. But it’s very funny — in Acts, Paul, when he first gets taken in by the Roman guards, he’s a popular figure, he’s got lots of people following him, and they think he’s that dude. And so they’re shocked when he starts speaking Greek to them, because he’s a Roman citizen.
Father Randy: And he knows Greek, and the Egyptian dude obviously wouldn’t. And so a mistaken identity case happens — one of those very human moments that Scripture reveals. So all these phonies claiming that they’re Jesus or that he’s already come — that happens. That’s a check.
Father Randy: And then Jesus warns against various wars and insurrections taking place. You’ve got plenty to pick from — various zealot revolts from the Jewish people, the violent succession of four Roman emperors in a single year — coup after coup after coup. And then Jesus also describes various natural phenomena taking place: famines, celestial events of various kinds.
Father Randy: So we see some of these in Acts. It talks about famines and plagues taking place. We also have a Jewish historian who survived the destruction of Jerusalem; he writes about various signs they witnessed — God using our own natural celestial movements. Some scholars theorize that Halley’s Comet showed up at one point. So these various signs the people see and remember and associate with it.
Father Randy: But then Jesus moves beyond global events and turns to what’s going to happen to individual believers. He warns that they’ll be persecuted, imprisoned, led to give testimony before kings and governors because of his name. We know this happened — that’s the life of Peter and Paul, taken before governors in Israel and emperors in Rome.
Father Randy: And so it’s amazing that that happened — what kind of small sect gets to testify before the greatest people in the land? And then he describes the last warning sign before the temple’s destruction in the passage just after our reading today. He says that when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, know that desolation is at hand. Then flee to the mountains.
Father Randy: This would happen when the Roman army surrounded Jerusalem and eventually destroyed the temple in 70 AD on the ninth of Av — the exact same date the first temple was destroyed centuries earlier by the Babylonians. The Christian community saw this happen and left — went to the Decapolis region and settled there.
Father Randy: So they heeded his warnings. These passages are important not just because they point to the validity of Scripture, showing these things really happened, but because we can also learn from what Jesus commanded the apostles. The same kinds of things will happen in our time as well. We already have and will continue to face persecution. There will be terrifying world events, many more wars, the rise and fall of nations. There may even come a day when the beautiful stones of this place are torn down.
Father Randy: It’s not guaranteed — we do not know what awaits us in the future. But the key for us is to hear and heed the two commands that Jesus gives his disciples. The first is do not be terrified. The second is persevere, because by your perseverance you will secure your lives.
Father Randy: There’s a lot that can make us afraid. And the natural reaction is fear. But instead of telling them “do not be afraid,” Jesus says “do not be terrified.” The Greek word here means to fall away, to flee, to abandon what matters. The good response to fear is not terror — it is trust. Specifically, trust in God and his care for us.
Father Randy: When we meet fear with trust, fear is transformed. Think of a roller coaster — it’s meant to be scary, but paired with trust in the engineer and the safety systems, fear becomes joy. You put your hands up because even though it’s scary, you know you’re going to be okay. The saints understood this — they trusted God fully even in moments of great trial.
Father Randy: And so it’s difficult to do this well. In some ways, the only way to understand it is to live it. To walk by faith. To grow in trust. To know God so we can trust him. If we have that foundation in place, we can be ready and experience joy even in the midst of great trial.
Father Randy: That first command of trust leads naturally to the second — to persevere. To keep doing what he’s told us to do. Staying faithful to Mass, going to confession when needed, engaging in daily prayer, doing the mission he’s given us. That’s Paul’s encouragement to the Thessalonians — keep at it, no matter what.
Father Randy: My pastor growing up used to say, when Jesus comes, he’s just going to find me at the church because I’m doing what he told me to do. That’s the mission he gave me. I’m going to be faithful. The challenge for us is to have that same simple faithfulness — to trust even when we’re afraid and do not understand.
Father Randy: It sounds simple: trust God and do what he’s told me to do. But it’s hard when things get rough. It takes a lifetime to master, but that’s why we’re here — that’s why we come to Mass every week. So we can encounter him, grow in trust, and be well equipped to persevere when those hard times come.