Saturday after Populus Sion, The Second Sunday in Advent
Posted on December 16, 2023 by under
Scripture: St. Mark 13:5-13 (NKJV)
13:5 And Jesus, answering them, began to say: “Take heed that no one deceives you. 6 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He,’ and will deceive many. 7 But when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be troubled; for such things must happen, but the end is not yet. 8 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be earthquakes in various places, and there will be famines and troubles. These are the beginnings of sorrows.
9 “But watch out for yourselves, for they will deliver you up to councils, and you will be beaten in the synagogues. You will be brought before rulers and kings for My sake, for a testimony to them. 10 And the gospel must first be preached to all the nations. 11 But when they arrest you and deliver you up, do not worry beforehand, or premeditate what you will speak. But whatever is given you in that hour, speak that; for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit. 12 Now brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. 13 And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end shall be saved.”
Devotion
“Take heed that no one deceives you.”
“Do not be troubled,” our Lord admonishes us. He says this even as He warns of things to come: wars, earthquakes, famines, persecution of the faithful. He says, “take heed that no one deceives you.” One sure sign of a deceiver is that they invite you to feel troubled, and one sure sign that you have been deceived is if you allow yourself to be troubled!
False prophets thrive on getting people worked up and then presenting themselves as the ones who have the keys to making sense of the chaos. But, chaotic as some of those things may seem to us, our Lord has already told us that they are coming. He is still the Lord of history.
During this season of Advent, we ponder the “comings” of the Lord: His birth, His sacramental presence, His coming again in glory. In Christ, all that is necessary for our salvation has been accomplished, and in due course it will be brought to completion. Your single biggest need was for that salvation. All else is comparatively minor. Do not be deceived, and thus, do not be troubled. The Prince of Peace comes to you, to save you.
Collect: Stir up our hearts, O Lord, to make ready the way of Thine only-begotten Son, so that by His coming we may be enabled to serve Thee with pure minds; through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with the Father and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Collect for the Season of Advent
Stir up, we beseech Thee, Thy power, O Lord, and come, that by Thy protection we may be rescued from the threatening perils of our sins, and saved by Thy mighty deliverance; who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
