Readings: Dan 12:1-3; Ps 16; Heb 10:11-14,18; Mk 13:24-32
About
30 years ago, as a group of us celebrated a friend’s 50th birthday,
her husband raised his glass and wished her happiness, health and peace, and
then he added, "And at the end of your days may you go straight to
heaven."
Her
response? “I really wish you wouldn’t say such things. I don’t enjoy hearing
about death and sadness on my birthday."
Okay,
she said it with a little smile, but it seemed to be mingled with a touch of
fear.
Her
husband had offered a prayer of hope and future joy, but she received it instead
as an unpleasant subject best ignored.
Jesus’
words in today’s Gospel passage may also seem unpleasant to some, but they,
too, are really a message of hope.
And
I suppose how we receive that message depends on the depth of our faith.
You
know, I’ve always believed the opposite of faith is not despair, but fear.
Despair is just a sort of side-effect of fear.
It’s
why Jesus so often tells us to “be not afraid,” but instead to accept the gift
of faith.
Sadly,
this wonderful gift that God extends to all is rejected by so many today. Let
me share another encounter from my past.
I’ve
actually retired several times in my life. But before my final retirement, I
worked for a hi-tech firm in Massachusetts.
We
had about 400 employees, and I was the oldest. Most were in their 20s and 30s.
One
morning, having heard that a young colleague’s father had died, I stopped by
his office and expressed my condolences.
His
response was remarkable: “No big thing,” he said. “That’s what happens…death,
then nothing. So, who cares?”
“We
just have to enjoy life while we can. I do whatever makes me happy, whatever
brings pleasure, no matter what."
Raised in a Catholic family, he now believed
in what? The pursuit of ephemeral pleasure?
How unbelievably sad for him. He desired a
continual earthly happiness that’s unattainable. Because he sees nothing
beyond, his life has become essentially meaningless.
Beneath his cynical veneer one detects a deep despair, and an
even deeper fear.
The
early Christians encountered this among both pagan and Jews.
Today’s
reading is from chapter 13 of Mark’s Gospel. In that chapter, Jesus refers to
two very different events.
He
had just predicted the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, something that
occurred 40 years later when a Roman army under a general named Titus,
fulfilled Jesus’ prophecy.
All
that’s left standing can still be seen today – the single Western Wall of the
Temple.
I
supposed most of those listening to Jesus dismissed His prophecy as ridiculous ravings.
Imagine
your reaction if on September 10, 2001, someone had told you the twin towers of
the World Trade Center would not be there the next evening.
It's
hard to conceive of such things happening.
But
Jesus goes on, and begins to tell His disciples that they’re about to enter the
final stage of God’s plan, the stage in which they will play a major role.
For
they will fulfill the prophecy of Daniel we heard in today’s first reading:
“But the wise will
shine brightly…and those who lead the many to justice shall be like the stars
forever.” (Dan
12:3)
The
destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple will be a sign that this change, this
transition, is taking place, all beginning within a generation.
This
change is highlighted too in our second reading from Hebrews. Here we’re told
the Temple sacrifices of the Jewish priests cannot atone for sin.
Only
Jesus’s “once-for-all” sacrifice on the Cross can do that. And every day, here
and in churches throughout the world, we make present Jesus’ sacrifice on the
Cross.
Yes,
the sacrifice on the Cross and the sacrifice right here of the Eucharist are
one single sacrifice.
And
in truth you and I are made present to the Cross and receive the unlimited
grace and power that flow from it.
Jesus
is telling us that His passion, death, and resurrection fulfill the promises of
the Old Covenant and initiate a New Covenant with Jesus as High Priest.
But
Jesus also used His prophecy about the end of the Temple to tell His disciples
about the end of time, about the end of the world as we know it.
When
we first hear it, His message sounds like a message of fear, with its
earthquakes, wars, famines, pestilence, and terrors in the heavens.
But
it’s really a message of hope, not fear. Jesus gives us a real, tangible goal:
to get to heaven, to gain the eternal life Jesus has promised us.
This is the mystery of our faith, the mystery
we proclaim at every Mass:
We proclaim your death, O Lord, and profess your resurrection, until you
cone in glory.
Today’s
readings shouldn’t distress us because they’re not fearful; they’re hopeful.
How
did Jesus put it? When these signs…"begin to take place, look up and
raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near."
But
what about today? What about us?
While
waiting for Christ to come again, how should we act, how should we live?
Jesus
tells us: watch and pray. Live as if He were coming tomorrow! Perhaps He
is. We don't know.
Oh,
there are Christians who say they have the inside story on the end of the
world, and some believe it's right around the corner.
Their
message is essentially the same: "The end is near! Repent!"
I
suppose that’s not bad advice…but it’s slightly misplaced.
We’re
not called to repent simply because we think the end is near. We’re called to
repent and live accordingly because we’re Jesus’ disciples.
Jesus,
of course, told us not to be deceived by those who come in His name telling us
"The time has come."
Whether
Jesus comes on Thanksgiving morning or two thousand years from now, we’re
called to live as if He were arriving tomorrow.
Or
better yet, as if He were already here. Because He is.
Yes,
someday He will come in power and glory to place all creation at the feet of
His Father.
But,
today, He comes quietly, invisibly, wherever you and I are.
Look
for Him not on a cloud surrounded by triumphant angels, and wearing the crown
of a King.
No,
as we wait for that majestic return, look for Him where He already is.
Look
for Him seated all around you, beside you, in front of you, behind you, right
here in the community of His faithful gathered together.
Here
is the Body of Christ, His Church, and He is with us, for the Head cannot be
separated from the Body.
Look
for Him is His Word, for the Word of God is Jesus Christ. When you hear that Word
proclaimed here at Mass, when you read your Bible at home, He is just as
present to you as if He were right beside you.
As
Jesus told us, “my Word will not pass away.” No, it never perishes, but remains
to heal us, to nourish us, to give us strength.
And
look for Him in the Bread of Life and His Precious Blood – here in His
Eucharistic Presence, present here in a most special way – present in every way
– Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity.
Look
for Him at home on the faces of those you love, for He is present in them too.
And
look for Him especially where He told us to look: in those who hunger and thirst,
in the stranger, the sick, the homeless, the imprisoned, in the lonely, that
person in your neighborhood who has no one.
You
see, Jesus has given us plenty to do before He returns in glory as Christ the
King.
And
as He instructed His disciples, “It will lead to your giving testimony.”
The day will come, He
warns, when they hand you over, when you are powerless, terrified, betrayed.
The day will come when
you are tempted by lies and persecuted because of my name.
The day will come,
Jesus says, when all that you have left is your testimony.
That’s right; the day
will come when all we have left is our witness to our Christian faith.
Are
we ready for that?
As
Jesus assured us in today’s Gospel, we are in that final stage of God’s plan
and our generation has some work to do.
As
Christians, as members of the Body of Christ, we’re called to prepare the world
for the Lord's return, but we must first prepare ourselves.
How
ready are we to receive Him?
Each
of us will have his own end of the world, and for many of us here today that
last day will come soon enough.
When
we stand in His presence and say, "Here I am, Lord. Did I do your will?"
How
will He respond?
No comments:
Post a Comment