33^rd Sunday of the Year – 18 November 2012

Dan 12:1-3; Hebr 10:11-14, 18; Mark 13:24-32 President John F. Kennedy was very fond of a particular story which he often used to close his speeches during his 1960 presidential campaign. It is the story of Colonel Davenport, Speaker of the Connecticut House of Representatives back in the year 1789. One day, while the House was in session, the sky of Hartford suddenly grew dark and gloomy. Some of the Evangelical House representatives looked out the windows and thought this was a sign that the end of the world had come. Uproar ensued, with the representatives calling for immediate adjournment. But Davenport rose and said, "Gentlemen, the Day of Judgment is either approaching or it is not. If it is not, there is no cause for adjournment. If it is, I choose to be found doing my duty. Therefore, I wish that candles be brought." Candles were brought and the session continued. Today’s readings contain the same message: we need always to be prepared to receive Jesus at his second coming by accepting him now as our personal savior and doing now what he has commanded us to do.
Today’s readings give us the assurance that our God will be with us all the days of our lives and that we will have the ongoing presence of the Holy Spirit in our midst guiding, protecting and strengthening us in spite of our necessary human uncertainty concerning the endtime when “Christ will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead.” Next Sunday is the Thirty-fourth and last Sunday in our liturgical year when we celebrate the Feast of Christ the King, and the following Sunday marks the beginning of the Advent season with a new Liturgical cycle. Each year at this time, the Church asks us to mediate on the “last things” – death, judgment, heaven and hell -- as they apply to us. The readings invite us to focus our attention on the threefold coming of Jesus: 1) His first coming according to the flesh, as a redeemer. 2) The second coming of Christ, at our death or at the end of time, which will bring our salvation to completion. 3) His coming into our lives each time we step forward in genuine Christian living. The first reading, from the book of the prophet, Daniel (167 BC), with its vision of the archangel Michael, the guardian of the Jewish people, "awakening those who sleep in the dust of the earth," was originally written to comfort and give hope to the Jewish people persecuted by a cruel pagan king. In the second reading, the author of the letter to the Hebrews consoles believers suffering from “endtime phobia” with the knowledge that Jesus, who sits forever at God’s right hand, is our mediator. Through his sacrifice our sins are forgiven, and we are perfected and sanctified. Today’s gospel, from Mark (69 AD), offered hope to the early Christians persecuted by the Roman Emperor Nero. He reminded them of Jesus’ words about his coming, glorious return to earth as judge, with great power and glory, to gather and reward his elect. Though Daniel and Mark describe frightful scenes, their accounts also remind their audience that God will ensure that the righteous will survive the ordeal and will find a place with Him. Through the parable of the fig tree, Jesus warns us all to read the “signs of the time,” and reminds us that we must be ever prepared to give an account of our lives to Jesus our judge, because we can not know “either the day or the hour” of our own death or of his second coming.
Mark's gospel, written some 40 years after Jesus' death, is the simplest, shortest, and oldest of the four gospels. This week's gospel text is from the thirteenth chapter of Mark which, together with Matthew 24 and Luke 21, is often called the "Little Apocalypse." Apocalypse literally means unveiling. The whole of Mark’s thirteenth chapter is full of apocalyptic imagery and predictions borrowed from the Old Testament. Verses 24-27 are taken from images appearing in the prophecies of Joel, Isaiah, Daniel, Deuteronomy and Zechariah. Jesus skillfully weaves all these various strands into one powerful vision. The gospel of Mark was written in the year 69 AD, just one year before the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem, at a time when the Romans were suppressing Jewish protests and persecuting Christians. Many Christians began wondering why Jesus did not return as he had promised. Some even wondered whether he had really been the promised Messiah. Hence, Mark tried to strengthen their faith by quoting Jesus’ predictions of the coming persecution of the faithful, the destruction of Jerusalem, the rise of the Anti-Christ, the end of the world, and Christ’s Second Coming. Mark also offered hope to a persecuted community by reminding the people of Jesus’ promise that wars, natural disasters and betrayal by family members would be overcome when the Son of Man returned to gather in his loved ones.
The glorious coming of the Son of Man: In today’s gospel, Jesus speaks about the displacement of celestial bodies at the end of the world, followed by the appearance of the Son of Man in glory to establish the Reign of God. The coming of the Son of Man, "in clouds with great power and glory," echoes a passage in the Daniel. Cosmic disturbances of the sun, moon and stars are images traditionally associated with the manifestations of God's judgment of Israel. Although no timeframe is given in the gospels for the period between the destruction of Jerusalem and the final coming of Jesus as King and Lord of all, the early Christians believed that Jesus would come in their lifetime, based on their understanding of Jesus’ promise in Mark, "this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place."
Jesus gives a warning lesson from the fig tree, using stock prophetic expressions well known to his listeners. The fig tree sprouts its leaves in late spring heralding the summer season. The application of this image to the end of the world suggests that the end of the world will mean good times, or summer, for Jesus’ disciples, because their God will be bringing things to a triumphant end and His Truth, Love and Justice will prevail forever. But we must always be well prepared to face our judgment because we do not know the day nor the hour, either of the ending of the world or of our own call from this life. Hence, true disciples are to watch and wait in a state of readiness. Instead of worrying about the endtime events, we are asked to live every day of our lives in loving God living in others by our committed service. Thus, we will enter into a deeper relationship with God which will continue when we pass through death to a different kind of life.
What are the Messages we have for our lives from today’s liturgy? 1) Let us recognize the “second coming” of Jesus in our daily lives. Today’s gospel reminds us of a “coming” of God which we tend to forget, namely, God’s daily coming to us in the ordinary events of our lives. We must learn to recognize and welcome Him in these everyday occurrences – happy, encouraging, painful or disappointing – always remembering that He comes without warning. Let us remember that the Lord is present wherever people treat each other with gentleness, generosity, and thoughtfulness. Hence, let us try to bring Jesus to earth, as Blessed Mother Teresa puts it: “by doing little things to others around us with great love.”
2) Let us take heart and not get frightened: The end of the world should never be thought of as depressing, disheartening or frightening because we are in the hands of a good and loving God. Christ’s second coming gives us the message that God is journeying with us in the trials and difficulties of life and that His word is ever present as a light of hope. He speaks to us through the Bible. We have the Eucharist as a sign that God is with us, in our midst. Holy Communion is our point of direct, personal contact with God. That is why the holy Mass is special: the more fully and frequently we participate in the Mass, the more deeply the Lord can come to us, and the more completely He can remain with us. Let no one frighten us with disturbing descriptions of the end of the world because “the end” is all about the birth of everyone and everything into eternity.
3) Are we ready to meet our Lord with a clear conscience? Suppose we were to learn today that we had just one year to live - that we would die on November 18, 2013. What changes would we make in our lives? How would we spend our time, talents and wealth? What changes would we make in our priorities? Would we be concerned about the petty quarrels and bickering of life? No! The next twelve months would be the best year of our lives because we would spend our time doing loving, holy and worthwhile things.
4) “Learn the lesson from the fig tree.” Jesus tells us that our personal “endtime” is a prelude to eternal happiness. However, we are all so taken in by our secular culture’s fascination and glamour that we are sometimes embarrassed or saddened by the signs of our own approaching end. We foolishly consider growing old as an evil thing, rather than as a warning from a loving God, to prepare to meet Him and to give an account of our lives. Our aches and pains and frequent “doctor’s appointments” in our senior years should remind us of God’s warning that we are growing unfit to live in this world, and that we have to get ready for another world of eternal happiness. Hence, let us take the spirit of the 27th Psalm: “Wait for the Lord. Take courage; be stouthearted, and wait for the Lord”