In this week’s Gospel lesson, Jesus offers apocalyptic predictions of disaster, but he also makes a promise: Apocalyptic disasters are penultimate, not final. Suffering and disaster are not the end. Something better is coming: God's kingdom. We are given the promise of new life, life with Jesus that begins now and continues for all eternity. And in the disasters and catastrophes and suffering of this world, Jesus is with us. This is a word of hope!