Unnecessary and Essential!

Tuesday, November 25, 2025

Dan 2:31-45; Lk 21:5-11

Today’s Gospel highlights the difference between the unnecessary and the essential. 

In three ways, we find people being lost in the unnecessary. 

1. The Gospel text begins by noting that the people admire the temple structure more than the God who dwells in it. They were lost in the external rather than the spiritual. 

2. When Jesus predicts the fall of the temple, their hearts are not awakened to repent and return to God. As a result, Jesus’ call to repentance goes unheeded. 

3. After Jesus’ prediction, they only ask, ‘When will this happen?’ and ‘What sign will there be…?’ They are more curious about the future than about changing their present. 

These three instances show that people were lost in what was pointless or less important. 

But Jesus directs their attention to see the essential through his characteristic exhortation. Expressions like ‘See that you not be deceived…,’ ‘Do not follow them,’ and ‘Do not be terrified’ indicate that Jesus wants them to pay attention to what truly matters.

In sum, though it appears Jesus is talking about the end times, it is a genuine invitation to live faithfully until the end. 

Let us pray that we may never miss out on the essentials of our faith to put them into practice.

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar