Homily for 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center
15 November 2009
Year for Priests
For daily readings, click here.
The apocalypse makes for a great story. For those in film, making the special effects for destruction of the world has got to be fun. For those who love terror, there is nothing scarier than demons swooping down claiming the souls of men desperate to get away. For those who think they can prophesy, there is no shortage of events signaling the end of the world - global warming, terrorism, the rise of atheism. You name it. It's happening. The apocalypse makes for a great story. That is why filmmakers and authors are always coming back to it. The apocalypse sells. And it is why even after Jesus says that no one, not even He or the angels, knows the hour, people keep predicting the end of the world. And getting it wrong by the way. But we shouldn't let the facts get in the way of a good story. The apocalypse is a great story, and it is a story that is obviously here to stay, whether it is told by Al Gore, or the makers of the movie 2012, or a priest like me.
We keep the apocalypse around not only because it sparks the imagination of how and when it might happen, but because the story is helpful to us in a practical way as well. The apocalypse is a story that teaches real lessons. The story even works, you might say, whether or not you believe in God or fear God. For example, it does no good for us to pretend that we will live forever, when in fact, we will not. The apocalypse reminds us of that. It does us no good to pretend like life is long, when it is really short. It does us no good to pretend like we have plenty of time to do everything we want to do, when in reality, the things we put off till tomorrow are the things that likely will never get done. Carpe Diem is a better motto for life than 'why do today what you can put off till tomorrow.' We all know this deep down, even the most stubbornly lazy among us. Most of us are terrible procrastinators, but we wish we weren't. We're trying not to be. And finally, it does us no good either to pretend that our actions do not matter, when we all know that our actions do matter and do make us who we are. It does us no good to imagine that what we do today has no effect on who we will be tomorrow, when in fact the opposite is true. The apocalypse, predicting the separation of good and bad at some unsuspected time, is helpful to us not only because it reminds us that time is precious, but it also reminds us that everything we do has consequences into eternity. It reminds us of what we know all to well, that there will be a time when we can no longer turn around and become the person we always promised ourselves we would be. There is a point of no return for all of us, and it does us no good to pretend like there is not. The apocalypse is a good story because it brings home these lessons. In thinking about the end of the world, we are reminded of how we want to live today.
Jesus used every good story to make his points. We shouldn't be surprised that he uses apocalyptic stories as well. What is more, Jesus knew well the prophecy of Daniel concerning the end of the world. Being a prophet himself, Jesus announced an apocalyptic message like that of Daniel. But Jesus' prediction gets more intense. Jesus not only reveals what the end of the world may be like, he says that the generation He is speaking to will not pass away until all of these things have taken place. Jesus is telling the story of the apocalypse, but he is doing much more than forwarding the apocalyptic revelations given to Daniel. No, Jesus in talking about the apocalypse is not simply forwarding the message, he is fulfilling the message. Jesus not only says that the kingdom of God is coming; he says just as importantly, the kingdom of God is among you! Jesus came not just to tell people what meeting God face to face might be like one day; no, He came to fully reveal right now what it is like to meet God face to face. Jesus came not simply to announce the apocalypse once again; He is the apocalypse, the unveiling of all things as they really are.
So when we hear Daniel prophesying about angels coming, and distress, and the dead awakening, and the wise shining brightly, we are as Christians called to remember the events of our salvation, the great agony of Jesus, his stupendous battle against evil, his descent into hell, his resurrection from the dead announced by angels, and the lives of the first saints who shine so brightly through history. When we hear the apocalyptic prophecy of Jesus, of the sun being darkened and heavens shaken, a prophecy that he promised would be fulfilled in his generation, we Christians should think of that Good Friday afternoon and the great battle that took place in those hours, a battle more definitive for the destiny of the world than any battle in history or any battle yet to come.
You see, as Christians, when we hear apocalyptic scripture and stories, we do not have to disobey the advice of Jesus and start trying to predict the future. No, we can begin by looking into the past, into the events of our salvation wherein Christ Himself fulfilled every apocalyptic prophecy. We can then look into the present, where we who have accepted the mission of Christ to extend his victory, recommit ourselves to winning with Christ the battle against sin and death in the time and place of our own lives. Then, knowing that the kingdom of God has already and truly and fully come among us through Christ, and knowing that the great victories of the past and present are as big as any battle left before us in the future, we can move forward into that unknown day and hour not with childish or slavish fear, but with the virtues of the Christian - faith, hope and love! +m
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