24 November 2026 · Latin Rite
Open in the Daily Word appAlso: Syro-Malabar Rite · Syro-Malankara Rite · മലയാളം
“Beware that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and, ‘The time is near!’ Do not go after them.” Luke 21:8
People admire the Temple's beautiful stones and gifts. Jesus says: “the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another”. Even the holiest building on earth is not permanent. Then he warns against false prophets who announce dates and claim his name, and against panic at wars and earthquakes: “these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately.” Christian hope is calm, not alarmist.
Revelation pictures the end as a harvest. One like a Son of Man on a cloud swings his sickle, for “the harvest of the earth is fully ripe”. Judgement belongs to God and comes in his time. Today's martyrs, 117 Vietnamese Christians (priests, bishops, catechists, fathers and mothers) killed between 1745 and 1862 and canonised in 1988, lived this calm hope under persecution. Their lives were the harvest; they were gathered into God's barn.
Theme: “Do not be terrified.”
The Temple's stones fall, false prophets come, but the harvest belongs to God.
“Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD guards the city, the guard keeps watch in vain.” Psalm 127:1
“As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down.” Luke 21:6
Apply: Build your life on prayer and the sacraments.
“Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, says the LORD.” Jeremiah 1:8
“And he said, “Beware that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and, ‘The time is near!’ Do not go after them. When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately.”” Luke 21:8–9
Apply: Do not forward fearful end-times messages.
“Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Go in, tread, for the wine press is full. The vats overflow, for their wickedness is great.” Joel 3:13
“Another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to the one who sat on the cloud, “Use your sickle and reap, for the hour to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.”” Revelation 14:15
Apply: Pray for persecuted Christians.
Our hope is calm because God holds history.
Let us ripen in faith like the martyrs.
Take-home resolution: Learn the life of one Asian martyr this week.
Dear friends, people were admiring the Temple with its beautiful stones and gifts. Jesus said: the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another (Luke 21:6). Even the holiest building on earth does not last for ever; only God's word remains.
Then he warns: beware that you are not led astray, for many will come in my name and say, the time is near. Do not go after them. When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified (Luke 21:8–9). Christian hope is calm, not alarmist. We do not need to chase predictions; we need to stay faithful.
Revelation pictures the end as a harvest: one like a Son of Man on a cloud swings his sickle, for the harvest of the earth is fully ripe (Revelation 14:15). The judgement belongs to God, and it comes in his time, not ours.
Today we honour St Andrew Dũng-Lạc and the martyrs of Vietnam: priests, catechists, fathers and mothers, who lived this calm hope under persecution. They were ripe wheat gathered into God's barn. Let us pray today for Christians who suffer for their faith, and let us share hope, not fear. Amen.
Children, Jesus says: do not be afraid. The martyrs of Vietnam loved Jesus even when it was dangerous. Pray today for children who cannot go to church freely.
Lord Jesus, keep me from false alarms and from false prophets. Root me in your word, which does not pass away, and give me the courage of the Vietnamese martyrs, so that I may be ripe for your harvest. Amen.
Both readings speak of the end with sober images. In Revelation the Son of Man reaps the harvest of the earth. In Luke, Jesus foretells that the Temple's beautiful stones will be thrown down, and warns his disciples not to be led astray or terrified. On the memorial of the Vietnamese martyrs, the call is to steady faith when the world shakes.
Setting.
After the vision of the Lamb and his followers (14:1–5) and three angels announcing judgment (14:6–13), John sees two harvests: a grain harvest and a grape harvest. The images come from the prophet Joel: “Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Go in, tread, for the wine press is full” (Joel 3:13).
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“seated on the cloud was one like the Son of Man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand!” (14:14)
The crown (stephanos) is the wreath of victory. The one who reaps is the one who was first sown in the earth and rose again.
“Use your sickle and reap, for the hour to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.” (14:15)
The command comes “out of the temple”, that is, from God. The time of the end is in the Father's hands, not ours.
“he threw it into the great wine press of the wrath of God.” (14:19)
Many commentators see the grain harvest as the gathering of the faithful and the vintage as the judgment of the wicked, though some read both as judgment. Either way, history is not endless drift: it ripens towards God's verdict.
How the Church reads it.
The Church reads these images as a call to readiness, not to fear or speculation. Christ's own parable of the weeds and the wheat (Matthew 13:24–30, 36–43) explains that the harvest belongs to God, who alone separates good and evil at the end. The Catechism teaches that the Last Judgment will reveal that God's justice triumphs over all the injustices committed by his creatures (CCC 1040).
Setting.
The Temple of Jesus' day had been rebuilt on a grand scale by Herod the Great from about 20 BC, and work on it went on for decades. Its white stones and gold were famous; Josephus describes them with admiration. Its courts were filled with votive gifts. In AD 70 Roman armies under Titus destroyed it, and it has never been rebuilt.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down.” (21:6)
Jesus loved the Temple; he called it his Father's house (2:49). His prophecy is spoken with grief, as when he wept over the city (19:41–44).
“Beware that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and, ‘The time is near!’ Do not go after them.” (21:8)
Luke alone adds “The time is near!” Those who announce dates for the end are not to be followed.
“When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately.” (21:9)
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism recalls that on the threshold of his Passion Jesus announced the coming destruction of the Temple (CCC 585), and teaches that before Christ's second coming the Church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many (CCC 675). The disciple's answer is not panic but perseverance.
Are today's wars and earthquakes signs that the end is near?
Jesus says such things “must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately” (21:9). They are signs that the world is passing, present in every generation, not a timetable. The Church warns against setting dates (Mark 13:32; CCC 673).
Today is the memorial of St Andrew Dung-Lac and his companions, 117 martyrs of Vietnam of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, canonised together by Pope St John Paul II in 1988. Among them were Vietnamese priests, catechists and lay people, together with Spanish and French missionaries. They knew what it is to see their churches thrown down, and they did not go after other masters.