33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (C): Luke 21:5-19
Here are a few quick scenarios. See what images and emotions arise in your minds as you read each of them.
“Just wait until your father comes home!”
In today’s mail, you find a friendly note from the IRS, inviting you to an audit of your taxes from last year.
You have an appointment to see your doctor. You know that you have gained weight since your last appointment and have done very little of what your doctor advised you to do last time.
These scenarios have one theme in common. Judgment Day is coming! You know you have failed in some way, and that you’ll somehow pay for it. You may feel anxious and afraid. The fear may motivate you to make some changes in your life, or at least to say that you will make some changes. As soon as your fear leaves you, however, you slip back into your old ways.
As we approach the end of the Church year, our Scripture readings focus our attention on the last act in the human drama. This last act has been called the Second Coming of Christ, the Last Judgment, the End of the World, among other names in the Scriptures. It usually evokes in us the same sort of fear that our earlier scenarios evoked. The End has often been explained to us in similar terms: Christ is coming again! Shape up before it’s too late! Many of our teachers in the Faith have used the fear of divine judgment as a motivating force. Repent now, or face eternal punishment!
In our contemporary world, we have become more aware of how fear is often used to intimidate, abuse and exploit people. We are also more aware of how fear can enslave us, distort our perceptions of reality, and lead us to do things that are destructive to ourselves or others. It is very difficult for us to imagine how a God who is Love could be capable of using our fears against us. Because of this, we have found it very difficult to imagine a Last Judgment or an eternal Hell or any kind of final punishment from God. Yet, we know that there are passages in the Scriptures that affirm all these things, and that Catholic teaching also affirms these things. What do we do with this seeming contradiction? Is it a contradiction?
Recall that our negative reactions to all this are based largely on our experiences of fear being used to manipulate, hurt and abuse people. God’s ways are not our ways. God does not act with such intent. Secondly, one good image to use in thinking of Biblical teaching and of Church teaching is that of a pharmacy. A pharmacy offers meds for a wide range of health problems. In the course of our lives, we may need – at some time or another – most of the meds that the pharmacy has. But, we do not need all of them all of the time. We only need certain meds at certain times. In the same way, we will need all of Biblical and Church teaching at some point in our lives, but we do not need all of it all of the time. And not all of it is what we need at any one time. Some meds can be harmful if taken at the wrong time, or if we really do not need them.
One example to explain what I mean. Some people may be so caught up in their fantasies and illusions about themselves that they may need a strong dose of fear to bring them back to earth, so that they can better perceive the reality of their situation and have the chance to make changes in their lives with the help of God’s grace. The most loving thing for such people may be the fear med. Other people, who find themselves constantly beset with fears and anxieties and doubts, do not need the fear med. In fact, the fear med would be harmful to them. They need some other med from the Lord’s pharmacy, something to bring them reassurance and strength and perseverance in the face of their fears. And this is precisely the kind of med that Christ offers us in our readings for this Sunday, readings that our faith calls “good news”.
Good news? Yes! In what way?
Notice, first of all, that our readings, like so many others, do not tell us to fear. Rather, they counsel us not to be afraid. They speak of judgment and destruction, but not for us. They tell us of sufferings that we will face. These, however, are not divine punishments, but pains we endure because of our faithfulness to Christ. The readings assume that we are sincerely open to the Lord, listening to Him, receptive to His love, and striving to follow Him. The readings do not presume that we are perfect or sinless. They do not presume that we have “it” all together. They do presume that we are well aware of our need for the Lord’s mercy, and assure us that if we persevere until the end, we will be saved. That is, we will come to know the amazing fullness of God’s love for us even now, and we will one day be with the Lord and find, in Him, the fulfillment of every real desire our hearts have ever had.
We will come to know the fullness of God’s love for us even now. The End isn’t here yet, but it has begun. The Lord is already at work in the world, changing hearts and lives and preparing the universe for His return. This work begins in our churches and in our families. That is why we find such turmoil in both.
We often assume that our churches and families should be safe havens for us from the troubles of the world. We are troubled when we find our families and our churches in disarray at times. However, they are not safe havens from the turmoil of the world. Our churches and families are, in fact, the front lines of the battle. What happens in them goes a long way in determining how we will live our lives as a whole. If our churches and families are strong and faithful to the Lord, we are all the more blessed. If they are divided and weak, the Enemy gains an advantage and can use this to discourage many.
If you need any evidence of this, think of it this way. What are the most profound blessings you have been given in your life? What are the most painful and destructive hurts you have suffered in your life? The odds are very good that your answer to both of these will involve your experience of church and family. Church and family are the front lines of the spiritual battle. What happens here will go a long way in determining what our lives will be like. Therefore, it is here that the Lord begins to bring about His Kingdom. The more that evil is defeated here, the more it will be defeated elsewhere. The more we learn to love and trust here, the more we will do so throughout our lives. It is here, in our churches and families, that the Second Coming begins. Our perseverance in faith and love become a sign to others of the Lord’s presence in the world. We become an assurance to others who are also striving to be faithful to the Lord, and we become an irritation to those who have rejected the Lord. The Lord Himself will bring about the End, and the Last Judgment. That is not our task. Our task is to persevere in following Him, so that He can bless and heal us and others in the meantime. If we persevere, then the End will be a time of rejoicing for us, our true Homecoming. May this bring us encouragement in the midst of our challenges. God is with us, and will bring about in us all that He has promised!
Update:
You may have noticed that this is my first post in a few weeks! I was away last weekend, but I was not doing very well at all the previous couple of weeks. My time away has helped, at least for now.
My bishop has asked that I apply for Social Security Disability. There are a number of questions pertaining to this for which we are gathering information – such as how much work can I do and still qualify, and whether my room and board situation affects my eligibility. We need that information before we can proceed. The diocese will pay for me to have a lawyer’s assistance in all this. I do not know where I will be living once this is done, or whether I’ll need to pay rent. There’s a fair amount of uncertainty even as the process moves forward. Your prayers are most welcome! If anyone who reads this has expertise in Social Security Disability, feel free to offer some info and to point me to some resources!