33rd Week Nov. 14 2010, Today we have the good news and bad news1
During a Papal audience, a business man approached the Pope and made this offer: Change the last line of the Lord's Prayer from "give us this day our daily bread" to "give us this day our daily chicken." and KFC will donate 10 million dollars to Catholic charities. The Pope declined.
2 weeks later the man approached the Pope again and this time with a 50 million dollar offer. Again the Pope declined.
A month later the man offers 100 million, this time the Pope accepts. At a meeting of the Cardinals, The Pope announces his decision: Today I have good news and bad news for you.
The good news is... that we have 100 million dollars for charities.
The bad news is that we lost the Wonder Bread account! Today’s readings are about good news and bad news! First bad news! Today’s readings give us some stark warnings. These warnings come at a particular time in the liturgical year. Today is the last Sunday of the liturgical year. The end of calendar year too is fast approaching. As Christmas draws near, and as the church uses the feast of the first coming of the messiah to reflect on the second coming of Jesus, the readings remind us of the end times. Thus all the three readings today draw attention to the impending apocalypse.
Apocalyptic prophecies are a feature both in the Old Testament and the New Testament. Thus in the first reading from the Prophet Malachi there is a reference to the coming of the Messiah and the “rising of the sun of justice with its healing rays” (Mal 3:20a). And we know that the Messiah did come. Paul, in his letters often expresses his belief not only in the certainty of the second coming of Christ but also how and when Christ would come. In his first letter to the Thessalonians, Paul talks about Jesus coming in the clouds with a trumpet blast (1Thess 4:16). As to when Christ would come, he was sure that it would be imminent. He wanted his community to stay prepared since the Lord would certainly come before their life time. Today’s second reading comes from the misuse of the Pauline idea of the second coming. Some people at that time used the belief in the immanent coming of Christ as an excuse for laziness. Their argument was if Christ’s was coming soon then any labor is futile. Idleness led them to interfere in other people’s affairs. Thus in today’s second reading Paul urges all Christians to go about their normal lives, fulfilling their individual, family, social, and Christian responsibilities precisely because the end was near.
The gospel reading continues the theme of the end times. The gospel gives us a vivid description of what is to happen at the end time. Wars, earthquakes, famines, plagues, persecutions, and betrayals will characterize the end times. This scene can be very frightening. But these things do happen. If you read the time magazine cover story on the California fires, people were mortally scared when the fires actually hit them. But the consoling part of Jesus’ message is: “Not a hair on your head will be destroyed” (Lk 21:19). Christ has invited us into his eternal kingdom and even every bit of our life us secure with him. If this is the bad news, then what is the good news?
I want to draw three practical implications from the readings as good news!
1. Focus our mind on right things: The first implication comes from the Gospel reading. Is the reading meant to frighten us? Is it meant to put the fear of God into our hearts? No! In fact, just the opposite! It is meant to help us focus on things that are really important. There is a possibility that as we live our lives we may lose our focus and vision from what is really important to the mundane things of our human existence. We can get caught up in making more and more money, in legal battles, in petty family quarrels, and in accumulating things. We can be so caught up with ourselves that we can forget others; we can even forget God. The important thing is not when the world will end, or even how it will end. The important question is if the world does end today, will we have our minds focused on what is really important: on God, on love and peace, fidelity and justice, faith and hope; things that really matter. If we do have things that are really important in focus, then the message is not that frightening after all. On the contrary we will be more taken up with the message. “Do not be terrified. When all these things happen not a hair on your head will be destroyed. By your perseverance you will secure your lives” (Lk 21:19).
2. Conduct ourselves in an orderly manner: The second practical implication comes from the second reading where Paul urges the Thessalonians to conduct themselves in an orderly manner (1 Thess. 3:11). St. Gerard Majella, our patron saint, whose main responsibility in the monastery was baking bread for the entire community, was once asked what he would do if Christ was to come at the moment he was baking bread. He replied, “I will continue to bake bread.” In fact, fulfilling one’s responsibility is the best way to prepare for the second coming of Christ. That is why Paul urges all Christians to go about their normal lives, fulfilling their individual, family, social and Christian responsibilities precisely because the end was near. I hope when Christ comes or when our end comes we are caught doing what we are supposed to be doing.
3. The participation in the Eucharist is an experience of God: In the book of the Apocalypse, Jesus is unveiled as a lamb, though slain. This points us to the Eucharist. At every Eucharist, there is a coming of Jesus; every Eucharist there is an unveiling of His presence. Just as Jesus unveiled himself to his disciples on the road to Emmaus in the breaking of the bread he unveils himself at every breaking of the bread (Lk 24:13-35). The Eucharist is one of the best ways for us to prepare ourselves for Jesus’ coming, since it is both a foretaste of that final second coming, and also the very presence of Jesus Himself.
For instance, whether we believe in global warming or whether we believe that the erratic weather conditions are only a sign of climate change, we live in a time of stark warnings. Scientists are telling us that something is wrong with our life style. Our level of consumption and its effects are unsustainable. They are telling us that if we continue to live the way we do, one day our fragile eco-system will collapse. They are telling us that the earth in on the verge of a catastrophe. But it is in our human psyche to think that disaster is far away. Because if we accept that it is near then we have to make real changes. If we continue to believe that we have plenty of time, then we do not have to change our life-style. However, Scientists are urging us to make some hard decisions so that we are not caught unprepared. The message is the same as the scientist’s – let us not be caught unprepared.
Let us remember that Christ who will come on the last day or Christ we will meet at our own end is the very Christ we will meet in this Eucharist. Think about this as a real possibility - we might be only as prepared to meet Jesus then as we are prepared today to receive Jesus in this Eucharist. Is that a reason for us to be afraid or does that make us confident to meet him? Only we know the answer to that question.
