November
13, 2016
33rd
Sunday in Ordinary Time
Malachi
3:19-20a; 2 Thessalonians 3:7-12; Luke 21:5-19
Once while I was
saying mass, I noticed that the reader or the lector serving at mass was new. I
was told that it was her first time to serve at mass. She was so nervous that at the end of the
first reading she said, “This is the end of the world.” And the whole
congregation responded, “Thanks be to God.”
As we approach
the end of the liturgical year, our readings for today invite us to reflect on the
end times, the judgement day or the second coming of Christ. What can we expect
to happen at the end of the world? How do we anticipate its coming?
Let us look at
our readings for today and reflect on
these questions in three points:
THE
END OF THE WORLD IS NOT JUST ABOUT TERRIFYING EVENTS. Movies about the end of the world
often depict the end of the world as a moment of terror and destruction. In the
gospel Jesus tells us that powerful earthquakes, famine and plague are some of
the signs indicating the end of the world. In addition to that, the prophet
Malachi in the first reading says that at the end times, the sun of justice
will bring terror and fear to those who were unjust. On that day, evil doers will be burned by the
blazing fire of the sun of justice. But
remember the prophet Malachi addressed this to the unjust and evil doers. Let us not forget the second part. The
prophet Malachi says, those who follow God’s will, those who were not unjust
will never be afraid of the sun of justice.
Instead of fear and terror, the sun of justice will bring consolation
and relief to those who have been faithful to the Lord.
The end of the
world is not just about terrifying events. On the day of judgment, there will be two groups of people: evil
doers who will fear the coming of that day and the faithful ones who will welcome
the coming of the Lord. Which group do we belong? Are we afraid of the coming
of the Lord? Are we eager to look forward to it? What should we do as we await
the coming of the Lord?
WE
ANTICIPATE THE COMING OF THE LORD BY DOING WELL OUR RESPONSIBILITIES ON EARTH. In
the second reading, the Thessalonians were eager
for coming of Lord. They were expecting it to happen soon. They were not
afraid of it. But the problem is, they used this as an excuse not to
work anymore because anyway the end of world will happen soon. What’s the use of
working? Let
us just take it easy, relax and wait for the coming of the Lord. Because of
this Paul strongly reminds them, “You should not use this as an excuse for
laziness. We
do not know when our life on earth will end. As long as we live, we should
work hard in order to eat and survive. We should do well our
responsibilities. Work
hard to feed your family. Anyone who is unwilling to work, should not
eat.”
My dear friends
as we await the coming of Lord, we should never waste
our life on earth. We should never run away from our responsibilities.
We should strive to have a meaningful life. In addition to this, what
else can we do to prepare ourselves for the coming of the Lord?
PERSEVERANCE IN FAITH. When someone asked Jesus in the gospel, when will the end of the world happen, he did not give a direct answer to the question. He said that instead of speculating when will it happen, we should develop the right disposition in anticipating its coming. He says in the last line of the gospel, “by your perseverance, you will secure your lives.” In other words, we should be constant in faith, persevere in being good, persevere in doing well our responsibilities so that when the time comes, we will be numbered among the just ones who will never fear but welcome the coming of the Lord.
In this mass let us pray that as we look forward for the coming of the Lord, we may prepare for it by doing well our responsibilities on earth and perseverance in our faithfulness to the Lord. Amen.
