THE END IS COMING SOON

Homily for the Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

Fr. Ugochukwu Ugwoke, ISch

Scriptural Texts: Malachi 3:19-21, 2 Thessalonians 3:7-12, Luke 21:5-19

 

As the Church’s liturgical year draws to a close, the readings of this penultimate Sunday in the liturgical Year C invite us to reflect on the end times. The end time is a reminder of earthly mortality. We often dread the end of times. But unlike other ends that evoke the feelings of fear and despair, the day of the Lord that is spoken about in the readings is one that brings hope. We speak about the end times with a tone of hope and longing because it is an end that ushers in a new beginning.

It is the message of this new beginning that we find the prophet Malachi, the last of the Old Testament minor prophets announcing to the people of Israel who had just returned from captivity. Malachi speaks of the end of times as a day of recompense, when God will reward the righteous and banish the evildoers; the day when evil will be destroyed and good enthroned (Malachi 3:19-21). The day of the Lord’s coming will be a day of vindication for those who follow the path of goodness. As such, faithful believers need not fear the day of the Lord; it is only the wicked and unrighteous that dread that day because it will spell doom for them.

The people of Thessalonica were part of those who were afraid of the day of the Lord. The thought of that day made them slothful and idle (2 Thessalonians 3:7-10). St. Paul in the second reading addresses them on the right attitude to keep while waiting for the day of the Lord’s coming. He says that they should not be idle while waiting for the Lord’s coming. In other words, while we wait, we should actively walk with the Lord; diligently work in the service of the Lord; and cheerfully witness for God. Waiting for the Lord does not mean being lazy neither should it make us complacent. Waiting for the Lord is not the abandonment of spiritual and physical efforts. Remaining spiritually active with God in times of waiting makes all the difference in how we experience the wait.

In the gospel reading, Jesus expounds on the topic of the end of times by making a prediction about the destruction of the Jerusalem temple, the national heritage of the Jews (Luke 21:6). Jesus’ prediction of the destruction of the temple, a symbol of the Jewish system of worship points beyond the destruction of a physical building. Jesus uses the destruction of the temple to teach us something about the ephemerality of the things of the world including those things we hold dear. All things shall pass away; nothing lasts forever. Everything in this world is fleeting. As such, Jesus is inviting us to re-evaluate our values and to stop seeking happiness and salvation from transient things but to focus on the things will win us eternal glory.

Lastly, Jesus warns us to be wary of the false prophets who go about making false predictions about the day of the Lord’s coming (Luke 21:8-8). It is only God that knows the time and hour. Also, Jesus tells us that as we wait for the Lord’s coming, believers are going to pass through series of persecutions, betrayals, and hostilities in the hand of those close to us (Luke 21:16-19). But he encourages us to seize those opportunities to bear witness to God and demonstrate our audacious faith in God. Persecutions and tribulations help to better prepare us to encounter the Lord when he comes to meet us at the end of times.