| Malachi 3:19-20 2 Thessalonians 3:7-12 View Readings | Psalm 98:5-9 Luke 21:5-19 |
November always seems like a time of endings. The warmth of summer finally comes to an end, and the chill and the cold set in. The luscious green leaves, have faded from their vibrant autumn colors, and the trees go bare. Grass turns to stubble and gardens begin to decay, for winter is coming.
In November, the liturgical year also comes to a close. And as it does, the readings from Scripture are
also about endings. The end of time and
the judgment of souls which will occur at the end of time; which also means,
the end of wickedness, the end of corruption, when the sun of justice will
shine forever.
In that stark little passage from the book of the prophet Malachi,
which is the last book of the Old Testament, the end of the Old Testament, we
hear of the end of time: Lo, the day is coming, blazing like an oven, when all
the proud and all evildoers will be stubble, and the day that is coming will
set them on fire, leaving them neither root nor branch.”
The Jews believed that there would come a day when God would
come definitively into history, and manifest his judgment upon the enemies of
Israel. They called that “the Day of the
Lord”. On that day, God would put an end
to wickedness and usher in an eternal kingdom of peace and righteousness. And Christians believe the same thing. Every Sunday when we profess the Nicene Creed,
we say, “I believe Jesus will come in glory to judge the living and the dead
and his kingdom will have no end.”
On that day, says the prophet Malachi, “those who fear the
name of the Lord, there will arise the sun of justice with its healing rays.” Imagine
being cooped up all winter, coming out into the bright warm rays of the golden
spring sun. Such that final day will be
like for those who fear the Lord and have walked in his pathways.
In the Gospel, the Jesus, the fulfillment of the prophets,
speaks also of the end times.
As the Gospel passage begins, people are standing on the
temple mount in Jerusalem. Remember, the
temple was one of the great, most beautiful and impressive buildings in the
ancient world. And people were standing there, admiring the temple, looking at
its artistry, its jewels and adornments, its magnificence.
I remember the first time visiting St. Peter’s basilica in
Rome; it is so big and beautiful, and takes your breath away. These folks in the Gospel had never seen
ANYTHING like the Temple before, coming from the backwaters of Galilee or
surrounding Judea.
And Jesus kind of saddles up along them and says, the days
are coming when all you see here will be destroyed, there won’t even be left a
stone upon a stone. This monument, so
expansive, looking so unshakeable, so beautiful that you want it to last
forever, and Jesus says, all you see will be destroyed.
Again, It’d be like standing in front of beautiful St. peter’s,
to people who had traveled half way across the world on pilgrimage to that holy
place saying describing how this magnificent structure will turn to dust.
That may have shaken his listeners a little, especially if
they believed that God was sending a Messiah soon to deliver them from the
Romans, and that Jerusalem was to be that holy city to which all the nations of
the world would come to worship and that the Temple would be the center of that
worship.
Then Jesus made three further predictions. First, that people will come claiming to
teach in his name who will try to deceive his followers. Second, that there would be wars and
insurrections, nation will rise against nation, powerful earthquakes, famines
and plagues, dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria! Thirdly, his faithful followers would be
persecuted, arrested, and put to death.
Not very comforting words.
But, looking back, he’s been right. His predictions have come to pass.
The temple was
destroyed. Many, many people have come
since his ascension, claiming to teach in his name, all the while twisting his
truth, leading people way from right relationship with God, there have been
false prophets and false teachers. There
have been wars and famines and earthquakes.
His followers have been persecuted.
Saints and martyrs up and down the centuries have been arrested and
persecuted and put to death. 10 of the
12 apostles were killed. For the first
300 years of the Church, Christians were officially persecuted under the Roman
Emperors.
Even after the edict of Milan in 313, there have been martyrs
killed for their faith; martyrs like St. Andrew Kim and the martyrs in Korea,
St Paul Miki and the martyrs in Japan, St. Augustine Zhao Rong and the martyrs
in China, St Charles Luwanga and the martyrs in Uganda, St. Isaac Jogues and
his martyed companions here in the New World, St. Lawrence Ruiz and martyrs in the
Phillippines.
Last October 2012, 50 Catholics were killed by terrorists
affiliated with Al-Qaeda while celebrating Mass, including the priest. Two days after that a subsequent bombing
killed 64 more Catholics, and wounded 200.
Christians are slaughtered and killed in their homes, not 1700 years
ago, but today, in 2013.
But just like in the passage from the prophet Malachi, in
the Gospel, Jesus emphasizes that evil does not get the last word. “By your perseverance you will secure your
lives.”
The words uttered over and over by Jesus in the Gospel, his
most repeated phrase, is “do not be afraid” Early in the Gospel of Luke Jesus
teaches, “Do not be afraid little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you
the kingdom.” On the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said blessed are you when men
persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me,
rejoice and be glad for your reward shall be great in heaven.
Do not be surprised in discouraging times; do not be surprised
when people twist the teaching of the Church, and twist the authentic teaching of the
bishops and the popes to justify sinful lifestyles, do not be surprised when
good people suffer in times of natural disaster and civil unrest; Don’t be afraid even when parents, and
relatives and friends abandon you when you are faithful to Christ. My father
knows your faithfulness and he is pleased to grant you eternal life.
Jesus in the Gospel this week is doing something very
profound. He shakes us up a little, but
he really causes us to question, where do I put my trust?
The temple in Jerusalem, all of our churches and religious buildings
will collapse one day; the buildings collapse, but the Church remains. Our faith remains even when the church
building where we were baptized needs to close, as beautiful as they are, as
recent times have shown here in Cleveland.
Jesus teaches us here to keep the faith amidst church
closings and false prophets and Hollywood celebrities and government pressures
and natural disasters and family tragedies.
By your perseverance you will find eternal life. By clinging to the Gospel, by not abandoning
it when things get tough, when things look bleak, when people mock you, when
governments pressure you, when your families and friends have abandoned the
Church, you must persevere in faith. By your perseverance you will find eternal
life, “for you who fear my name, there will arise the sun of justice with its
healing rays”…for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
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