Homily for the Week of November 18, 2012

Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2012 First Reading: Daniel 12:1-3 Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 16:5, 8, 9-10, 11 Second Reading: Hebrews 10:11-14, 18 Gospel: Mark 13:24-32 Human beings have always tried to answer the question: When will the world end? And there have been about as many different answers as there have been those asking the question. Throughout history, end-of-the-world movements missing their mark number in the "hundreds of thousands at the very least. A blockbuster movie named 2012 was released in movie theaters November 13, 2009. The movie tells us that the world is coming to an end on December 21, 2012 as predicted by the Mayans. That date is not based on a specific prophecy, but the end of their calendar which is about to roll up. The Mayans of Guatemala and Mexico viewed time and the concept of time different than we do. We’re linear in our time and we think of time as a timeline with a beginning point and an end point. Time for the Mayans was very much a cyclic pattern based on the sun. Bible writers have also tried to tell us when and what will happened at the end of the world. From reading or listening to the Bible readings over the years you must be convinced that Jesus reminds us that the choices we make in this life will determine what is ahead for us in the next. But our culture believes somehow everyone will end up happy in God’s heaven. If that were the case why would Jesus have spent so much time telling us how we ought to live our life right now. In today’s first reading and the Gospel, we are given two different biblical writers who reflect on the end times. Both are writing for a people under a lot of pressure, a people who may feel that the trials and tribulations they are undergoing are the signs of the end time. Will there be something beyond this earthly life? The ancient Israelites thought there was not. Some believed they would merely live on in the memories of their descendants. Some spoke of Sheol, the shadowy underworld in which a shade of the former self survived. It was only in the second century B.C. that the belief in resurrection and an eternal reward for the righteous began to emerge. Daniel also mentions “everlasting horror and disgrace” for the wicked, but he focuses his attention on what happens to those who have lived wisely and who have led others to seek and do justice. He envisions these people as shining brightly. He says they will be “like the splendor of the firmament...[they] shall be like the stars forever.” In today’s Gospel Jesus speaks to his disciples about the things that will happen at the end of time. The light of the sun and moon will be extinguished with the stars falling from the sky. Against the backdrop Jesus interjects the assurance that he will come again in power and glory, gathering his elect from “the end of the earth to the end of the sky.” We think of Jesus as being young, but Jesus, about thirty when he began his public ministry, would have been in the oldest 10 percent of the population. Rather than being seen as a young rabbi, Jesus would have been seen more as a wise old teacher. In that day, disease and malnutrition were so common that only one in five children lived past their first birthday. Most parents were dead by the time children reached the age of 16. This context of life being so short is another context for our passage today that gives us some the last things Jesus said. Jesus gives us an image of a tender green shoot at springtime, one that bursts forth from the fig tree. Stripped of its leaves and giving every appearance of having died, its life tenaciously sprouts forth anew, much like the yellow dandelions blossom or crocuses that seem to blossom overnight after being dormant all winter. And so Jesus assures us that no matter what horrendous suffering we endure, life will rise again in us through his power. In the Gospel there is no reference to punishment of those who are not faithful, only of gathering in all his scattered “elect.” The question of when all this will take place hangs unanswered. There is a tension in the Gospel. Jesus first says that it will happen in the lifetime of “this generation,” but then he asserts that no one knows the day or the hour—not even he—but only God the Father. Being followers of Jesus does not exempt us from ordinary problems of human life. Yes, there will be sickness, there will be auto accidents, our homes may be hit by lightening, marriages may break up. Jesus never told his followers how to avoid trouble. Instead, he tells them how to prepare for it. If Daniel's words do not persuade us that rescue and redemption are ours, the reading from Hebrews should. The author points out that Christ's sacrifice for us was not only perfect and true, but once and for all. It is important for us to realize that the great challenges of our life are not a punishment for our sins or an indication that God has forgotten us. After we have tried out every solution we come to the conclusion that nothing helps but our faith in a loving God. The reality of death is probably the last thing we want to consider as we approach Thanksgiving and Christmas, but this is exactly what the Church is asking us to do. The Church does not want to make us afraid. This is not what Daniel was trying to do and certainly not what Jesus was trying to do. Both offered the cold reality that tribulations and ends were coming, but both of them also put these realities in the context of hope. This world is only our temporary home. We are all made for something greater than this life.