Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time
One of my favorite pieces of classical music is Mozart’s “Requiem” Mass. I first heard it by watching the movie “Amadeus,” which is the story of Mozart’s troubled and amazing life. Part of the music which is, in my opinion, angelic, are the two movements: “Confutatis maledictis” and “Lacrimosa.” These two movements come from the larger sequence, “Dies irae,” which used to be used in every funeral, or requiem Mass.
At first you might think that “Day of Wrath,” (which is what Dies irae means) may not be the music you want to hear at a funeral. And that first verse is, “Day of wrath! O day of mourning! / See fulfilled the prophets warning, / Heaven and earth in ashes burning!” These images come from the Biblical images that we heard about in today’s readings. In our first reading, we heard the Prophet Daniel prophesy, “it shall be a time unsurpassed in distress since nations began until that time.” And even Jesus says the end shall include a time where “the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.” That is somewhat sounding like a Dies irae.
But it’s not just the world. As we think about the end, we can also examine our own lives. In what ways have we become comfortable with sin? What sins do we excuse as “natural” and “everyday” issues. This is not to say that some sins are not more egregious than others; that’s why we delineate between mortal and venial sin. But even the smallest venial sin is not part of God’s original or final plan for humanity and the world. Even a venial sin offends God and made Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross necessary. So in our own life, if we are comfortable with sin, the change to no sin will seem quite traumatic for us, as traumatic as death is in the face of life. We know death is not supposed to happen, and it pains us deeply. In fact, we fight against it with all we have. That will be like what happens when Christ comes to undo the reign of sin and death in us. And that is why the Church talks about Purgatory as a purification. Purgatory is that process after death of changing us from a life of sin to a life of holiness. It’s a total overhaul. And overhauls can be painful. The end result is always worth it: eternal life. But until the end product is achieved, it’s painful to be retooled.
Still, the end is worth it, and it’s not all pain and suffering. Even in the Dies irae we hear verses such as: “Think, kind Jesu! –my salvation / Caused Thy wondrous Incarnation; / Leave me not to reprobation.” and “With Thy sheep a place provide me, / From the goats afar divide me, / To Thy right hand do Thou guide me.” And the sequence even ends with, “Lord, all-pitying, Jesus blest, / Grant them Thine eternal rest. Amen.”
The end of the change from a world of sin is the final completion of what Jesus achieved on the cross: the end of sin and death forever. But, as with so many things in life, the peace only comes after the struggle. However, with Jesus, the struggle isn’t a competition where we wonder who will win. Jesus has already won, and we’re just waiting to taste the fruits of that victory.
So when we talk about the end times, do we, as Catholics need to fear? We are, each day, one day closer to Christ returning in glory to judge the living and dead, as we profess each time we say the Creed. Should the Day of Wrath be something that we fret about?
That depends on how we’re living our life. The more we live like we’re in heaven, the less that we will experience a Day of Wrath at the end. The more that we’re responding to God’s will, saying yes to the invitations of God each day, the less painful it will be at the end of our lives. The more we live like earth is all there is, the more we will be on a trajectory for “when the wicked are confounded, / Doomed to flames of woe unbounded,” and “that day of tears and mourning,” as the Confutatis and Lacrimosa state in the Dies Irae.
And the good news is that Jesus is there to help us. He stands at the right hand of the Father, as we heard in our second reading, interceding for us, and showering His grace upon us so that we can live the heavenly life here on earth, and put to death on earth our fallen, sinful nature, while we rise to our glorified, heavenly nature. For in the end, only Christ’s grace will be able to transform us. Pie Iesu Domine, / Dona nobis requiem. Merciful Lord Jesus, grant us eternal rest. Amen.