“And Jesus being come out of the temple, went away. And his disciples came to shew him the buildings of the temple. And he answering, said to them: ‘Do you see all these things? Amen I say to you there shall not be left here a stone upon a stone that shall not be destroyed.’ And when he was sitting on mount Olivet, the disciples came to him privately, saying: ‘Tell us when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the consummation of the world?’ And Jesus answering, said to them: ‘Take heed that no man seduce you: for many will come in my name saying, ‘I am Christ:’ and they will seduce many.”
Jesus then leaves the temple, not wanted by those who were within, and so too does He leave when uninvited by someone that prefers sin, and joyfully come to those that go to open their hearts to His merciful love: “Ask, and it shall be given you: seek, and you shall find: knock, and it shall be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7). Jesus had predicted the temple would be left desolate, whereupon his disciples out of pity show Him the beauty of the temple, that He may not do what He had threatened. Where beauty, including that of art and music, is one of the greatest odors that the soul desires to follow: “The beauty of a woman cheereth the countenance of her husband, and a man desireth nothing more” (Ecclesiasticus 36:24), when this is void of the source of all beauty, the Beautiful, which is God, the splendor is superficial: “A golden ring in a swine’s snout, a woman fair and foolish” (Proverbs 11:22). So too, Theophila, do you do a great work in interceding for those whose temples are without God, that they may not fall into ruin, but rather be animated by His love: “But if you are led by the spirit, you are not under the law” (Galatians 5:18). Now, God allowed the temple to be destroyed that those who walked according to the spirit may not be drawn back into the ceremonial observances and the Law, but rather cultivate their love stories with God, not looking to the ancient ritual but rather to the new covenant of love: “Do we, then, destroy the law through faith? God forbid: but we establish the law” (Romans 3:31). Not only was the temple broken down to the very foundations, but in a figurative sense, the Law and observances of the old covenant were so dashed that even a semblance of observing the Law outside of grace is no more. Without the binding Holy Spirit of love and truth: “I will ask the Father, and he shall give you another Paraclete, that he may abide with you for ever. The spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive” (John 14:16), doctrines, communities, kingdoms all fail. Therefore, Theophila, you can identify what is false by its fracturing nature, seeing what divides against itself, allowing you to hold fast rather to that which is unchanging, secure, and reliable: “He set my feet upon a rock, and directed my steps” (Psalm 39:3). They then proceed to the Mount of Olives, when the disciples came and eagerly asked Him when those events would take place, their zeal for His glory and seeing Him the King of All spurring them on: “With zeal have I been zealous for the Lord God of hosts” (3 Kings 19:10). Pertaining to the mountain itself, olives, by their oil, provide sustenance for the fire of lamps and have many health benefits, and so Jesus takes His place among what is enriching for the soul, fueling the fire of love by the delightful aromas and sweetness of His very name: “Thy name is as oil poured out: therefore young maidens have loved thee” (Canticle 1:2). Thus, by Jesus sitting among the olive trees represents Jesus being present among the teaching of the Doctors of the Church, the preeminent interpreters of Sacred Scripture, who write not so much to fill your head with knowledge, but to give you the sweet fragrance of knowing your Beloved all the better. Therefore, go to Him with confidence, seeking the answers your heart asks, that it may be given the delightful words of the Scriptures, going to the Fathers and Doctors when you need clarification: “How sweet are thy words to my palate! More than honey to my mouth” Psalm 118:103), that your heart may be full, and your mind steady. The disciples ask three questions, and Jesus begins with an answer not concerning future things, but the present, and the evils within, this being those that claim Christ’s authority and build their own towers: “They went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would no doubt have remained with us; but that they may be manifest, that they are not all of us” (1 John 2:19), deceiving many with easier roads than what Jesus promised love to be like: “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” (Matthew 16:24). “Wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there are who go in thereat” (Matthew 7:13), for mental prayer without the humanity of Jesus is a trap, and any exposition of Sacred Scripture that departs from the truth is Antichrist, and these weeds must be avoided that you may run past the flower beds of this life to enter into union with your Beloved: “What manner of one is thy beloved of the beloved, O thou most beautiful among women? What manner of one is thy beloved of the beloved, that thou hast so adjured us?” (Canticle 5:9), but many are the seducers that would pull you from the narrow bridge into the chasm of a loveless life. Jesus and truth are one, but the doctrines that feign truth wear His mask, attempting to pull you from your Beloved: “An enemy hath done this” (Matthew 13:28). It requires a good nose, Theophila, to detect the sweet odors of truth, and what you need to hear from God, rather than follow the stink of the devil’s noise and tension: “Thy nose is as the tower of Libanus, that looketh toward Damascus” (Canticle 7:4), and this is all assuming you have escaped from sin and error into the way of those seeking union with Jesus. Therefore, you must pray much, that the enemy’s traps may not grab your foot as you run: “They prepared a snare for my feet; and they bowed down my soul” (Psalm 56:7), and read and meditate on the Scriptures abundantly, that your Beloved may speak to you heart to heart, and you may let Him fashion you according to His liking, rather than someone else’s: “Shew me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou liest in the midday, lest I begin to wander after the flocks of thy companions” (Canticle 1:6).