Friday of the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
Luke 21: 29-33
The word that never passes away

Jesus invites us today to look at something very simple — a fig tree. “Look at the fig tree and indeed every tree; as soon as you see them bud, you know that summer is near.” Nature has its rhythms. The budding of the fig tree announces that life is returning, that something new is about to happen. In the same way, Jesus calls us to open our eyes to the movements of God in our lives and in our world. The Kingdom of God is not a distant dream; it is already near, quietly growing, often hidden beneath the surface.

The challenge is to stay attentive — not anxious, not obsessed with predicting the future, but awake and discerning. People in every generation have tried to calculate the end of the world, but Jesus reminds us that “no one knows the day or the hour.” What matters is not the timing, but the readiness of our hearts.

Then Jesus gives us one of the most consoling assurances in all the Gospels: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.” Everything we see — even the most enduring things — will one day fade. But His word remains. In a world where so much changes, where we often feel uncertain or insecure, the Word of God is our anchor. It is the one thing that never fails, never deceives, never dies.

We live in a time when many voices claim to have the truth, when fear and confusion easily take root. But the disciple of Christ learns to listen to the quiet, faithful word that endures — the word that brings peace, not panic; hope, not fear.

Let us then be people who read the signs of the times with the eyes of faith, and who cling to the Word that never passes away.

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Cum Approbatione Ecclesiastica 2025