Thirty-Third
Sunday in Ordinary Time
It’s clear that our readings today focus
on the end times. And perhaps this
subject is already on our mind with the impending arrival of December 21, 2012
(though, we should pay close attention to our Lord’s words at the end of
today’s Gospel: “‘But of that day or hour, no one knows, neither the angels in heaven,
nor the Son, but only the Father’”).
But whether we have been thinking about it or not, the Word of God calls
us to remember that this world is passing away, and a new world is coming where
the Kingdom of God will be revealed in its fullness.
Because
the end of the world as we know it means the beginning of the world as God
intends it, we should want the world to end. In Sacred Scripture, the response of the Christians to the
world ending is Marana
tha!, an aramaic phrase that
means, “Come, Lord Jesus!” The
Book that we associate with the Final Judgement, the Book of Revelation, is
precisely a book of consolation.
St. John consoles the early Christians by assuring them that the
persecutions and sufferings of this age will end, evil will be vanquished, and
the reign of Christ, the Lamb who was slain but lives, will be ushered in. It will be the time when “[Jesus’]
enemies are made his footstool,” as our second reading from the Letter to the
Hebrews stated.
But
there is another response besides Marana
tha! which is also
associated with the end times: Dies
irae in Latin, or “Day of
wrath,” in English. This is the
response of those who have put themselves at enmity with God, and for whom the
coming judgement is feared because the establishment of the fullness of the
Kingdom of God means the destruction of their own kingdom. As Dies
Irae states, “Tearful will be that day/ on which from the ash arises/ the
guilty man who is to be judged.”
What
is our response to the second coming of Christ? For those who are following the will of God in their lives,
it is likely, Marana
tha! For those who are following their own
will, it will likely be a Dies
irae. Even our first reading sets up the dichotomy
of two responses to the end. The
Lord tells Daniel that when St. Michael comes, the great angel (that is,
messenger) of the judgment of God, for some “‘it shall be a time unsurpassed in
distress since nations began until that time.’” And yet, the just “‘shall escape,’” and the wise, “‘shall
shine brightly likely the splendor of the firmament, and those who lead the
many to justice shall be like the stars forever.’”
Some
of you may be thinking right now, “Why so morbid? What exactly happened on that pilgrimage to the Holy
Land?” But reflecting on the end
times is a perennial call of the Church, to remind us of the eternal
consequences of our actions. Let’s
be honest, sometimes we need a little fear in our life to do the right thing,
because we still labor under the effects of original sin. Some people like to speed while driving,
so I’m told. But when they see a
police car on the side of the road, they are reminded to slow down. Some students would much rather take
the short cut of copying off a neighbor’s test, but the watchful eye of the
teacher or professor can help us to avoid that temptation. Being reminded of the end times reminds
us that, while we may get away with just about anything here on earth, we will
be called to account for our actions before the judgment seat of God who is
Truth itself, and no amount of sweet-talking or rationalizing will change the
truth of what we have done.
That
is why the Church recommends a regular examination of conscience and frequent
confession, to call us back to the Lord, and to have our sins forgiven while
they still can be. Because once we
have died, there is no more time for conversion: we have either said yes to God
and will be welcomed by the saints into heaven (even if we need a little
purifying from our attachment to sin in Purgatory), or we have said no to God
and will be welcomed by Satan and the fallen angels into Hell. We either receive the reward of eternal
happiness as the consequence of our good choices, or we receive the punishment
of eternal damnation as the consequence of our unrepented sin.
So
we can ask ourselves: do I enjoy spending time with God? Do I attend Mass each Sunday and
Holyday? Do I take time each day
to pray? If so, Marana tha!; Come, Lord Jesus.
Or do I go throughout my day without giving God a thought, and make
excuses why Mass is inconvenient for me or just plain, old boring? If so, Dies irae; Day of Wrath. Have I made a god out of power,
prestige, sports, influence, money, or any other created good? Dies
irae. Or do I seek to serve and to put all
things in their proper order, so that God is first, others are second, and I am
last? Marana tha!
Am I greedy? Do I keep
things from the poor and those in need, and therefore keep them from Christ,
especially clothes or other goods that I will never use? Dies
irae. Or am I generous with what I have,
especially my time and the gifts that God has given me to share with
others? Marana tha!
May
the coming judgment, which will find us individually at our death, and
universally at the second coming, be for us not a day of wrath, but an
invitation for the Lord Jesus to come.
And as even Dies Irae states, “O
you, God of majesty, gracious splendor of the Trinity, join us with the
blessed. Amen.”