Today is Oct.25, Friday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time.
In today’s Gospel reading, we hear Jesus say, “You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky; why do you not know how to interpret the present time?”
Oct. 25, for all the Shakespeare fans out there, is St. Crispin’s Day. Why a good Shakespeare reference today? In the play “Henry V,” King Henry gives his famous speech to the English troops assembled for the Battle of Agincourt on St. Crispin’s Day. (The speech was recited by Laurence Olivier to raise British spirits in World War II and is quoted in the closing scene of the 2001 HBO series “Band of Brothers.”)
Now, the English and French had been fighting in what has come to be known as the Hundred Years’ War. At Agincourt, the French outnumbered the English five to one. Thus the scene for Shakespeare’s illustrious speech.
“If we are mark’d to die, we are enough / To do our country loss,” says Henry, “and if to live, / The fewer men, the greater share of honour.” Henry chides his troops for wishing there were more among their ranks. Rather than shirk from the odds, so starkly against him, Henry rouses his men, painting a vision of the glory that will be theirs. “We few, we happy few, we band of brothers,” says Henry. “For he to-day that sheds his blood with me / Shall be my brother.”
It’s easy for us to forecast doom and gloom in the present time. To see ourselves outnumbered and to predict imminent defeat. But that’s not the way of the Lord, that’s not the way of our Savior. We are, according to the signs that can be observed, living toward the kingdom. It is upon us. And what matters to the kingdom, the values of the kingdom are different than what we face here below.
Outnumbered or not, we are living for what is to come. The present days are fading. And alongside those who believe, we will marshall the courage to press on for the glory of Christ’s kingdom.
A prayer to face our present times:
Almighty ever-living God, grant that we may always conform our will to yours and serve your majesty in sincerity of heart. Through our lord Jesus Christ, your son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the holy spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
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