This week’s Gospel focuses on end times—cataclysmic, earth-shattering, apocalyptic events that will come our way.
Now, life is good and we are admiring the fine stonework that adorns the temple of our lives—the temples we create.

These are the places of security for us. No matter what else breaks down we believe that the temple will stand for all eternity. It is where we find our God.

Then someone we trust, bursts the bubble and wakes us up out of our short-lived reality warning us that the time will come when not a stone will be left on another and everything that we cherish will be destroyed.

This is not a message that we want to hear--- we would like to be in control. We want to know when this event will take place and what signs we can look for so that we can be prepared.

We all know that if a hurricane is imminent we are in informed over and over again as to what path the hurricane will take so that we can take precautions to protect ourselves.

But then there are the tsunamis of our lives and our world—the September 11 events or the sudden collapse of a seemingly indestructible bridge. We are taken by surprise and all comes crashing down—not a stone is left on another.

The important thing is not so much knowing when and what signs we can look for as we protect ourselves. Who really knows? These things must happen but the end is not so soon.

We need to align ourselves with persons of integrity who are trustworthy, whose word we can believe, whose names stand for integrity. Not those who set out to deceive saying I am he and the time is near at hand.

We need to discern whose voice we can trust—those who speak the truth not those who tell us what we want to hear. We must refuse to join them.

It is our endurance that will win our lives.

I want to share the story of a friend of mine who has endured and whose life has been won for others. I will call her Patricia.

Patricia had four children and three grandchildren. She was domiciled in New York and her children in Trinidad at their grandmothers’ home. They were doing alright—Patricia worked in New York and came home every year at Christmas. And that was a time of rejoicing for everyone.

Financially, Patricia wasn’t well-to-do but she was managing with the home care jobs she had and she was enjoying life. God was there but He was in the background. Instead her temple adorned with fire stonework and votive offerings was the world of enjoyment around her.

Then without warning her world collapsed around her. Over a period of about three years, she lost her 23 year-old son in a road accident and his twin sister who survived was also badly injured.

About a year later Patricia was diagnosed with breast cancer. She survived the operation and the chemotherapy, surrendered her life to God and became very involved in a prayer group.

This was a time of deep conversion and conviction and intense prayer. God did a mighty work within her and he adorned her with his gifts of peace and love and joy and healing as she began to minister to others.

She did not look for easy solutions but came to realise that ----this is something that must happen, but the end is not so soon

But that was not the end of the devastation and crisis in her life. The spiritual gifts and close relationship with God did not protect her from another experience – another time when not a stone will be left on another.

A few months later her infant grandson died after contracting AIDS through a tainted blood transfusion and finally the toddler’s mother died within a year –victim of a terrible road accident.

Patricia became the source of comfort and healing for her Mother, her children, her grandchildren and the many young people who poured out their grief.

I have not had the experience of losing a child and I keep praying –Lord do not put me to the test. But when I look at Patricia and see what a source of joy and healing she has been for so many, I can only say she has endured throughout her journey over these tumultuous years and her endurance has won her, her life.

We thank God for the persons like Patricia who open their hearts in repentance to their God and worship the real God in the real temple. Because of this they are able to endure the many cataclysmic, shattering events that come their way on this journey of life. Their endurance wins their lives.

We ask God’s forgiveness for staring at the fine stonework and votive offerings of the temples we create—that will not last forever – and for seeking out and listening to the false prophet who comes to us declaring I am He and the time is near at hand.

We pray that like the Buddhist monks in Burma, we will not be afraid to stand up for justice and align ourselves with persons of integrity even if we are hated by all men on account of their name.

We pray that we will see this as an opportunity to bear witness.

Gospel Meditations for November are by Linda Wyke. An active member of the parish of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, San Fernando, Linda, a mother and grandmother, is a former Archdiocesan Director of Religious Education.