By Perseverance You Will Secure Your Lives 憑著堅忍保全靈魂

Thirty Third Ordinary Sunday, Year C
Theme: By Perseverance You Will Secure Your Lives 憑著堅忍保全靈魂

In the gospels, Jesus has made it crystal clear that nobody knows the day or time of the end of the world, “But of that day or hour, no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” (Mark 13:32). Jesus also warns, “See that you not be deceived, for many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he,’ and ‘The time has come.’ Do not follow them!” (Luke 21:8) Yet, that doesn’t dissuade people from speculating and making money from doomsday prophecies. Even though all past prophecies have failed, perhaps this one will hit the jackpot! Actually, most of the prophecies were shrouded in ambiguities. Thanks to those doomsday prophets who made the apocalyptic dates specific and failed. We should not blame Jesus for refusing to reveal the day or time of the Last Judgment. Perhaps by its very nature, the very End should be open-ended like Lucan parables.

Some people take a complacent attitude towards life. After all, all men are mortal. Whatever we do, we’ll end up in dust (Genesis 3:19). Why should we worry and busy ourselves? In the second reading today, St. Paul rebukes such an attitude of those who believe that Jesus Christ would return soon. “We hear that some are conducting themselves among you in a disorderly way, by not keeping busy but minding the business of others.” (2 Thessalonians 3:11) Since we Christians are free people, we are not slaves and are free to keep ourselves busy or otherwise. I suspect what offended St. Paul most was that some people overstep and busy themselves minding the business of others! Yes, such people are truly annoying. So, St. Paul continues, “Such people we instruct and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to work quietly and to eat their own food.” (3:12) Work quietly and don’t disturb the others. How appropriate it is and yet how difficult it is to work quietly for most of us! It is all too easy to lose focus and go after distractors. The same applies to reading Jesus’ messages in the gospels and biblical messages in general.

Take a look at the first reading today which is taken from Malachi 3. Beware of reading it out of context! To be fair, the whole chapter talks about God’s mercy but it is easier to read punishments than mercy. For example, in prophesizing the witness of John the Baptist, Malachi says, “But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand firm when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire, like fullers’ lye. He will sit refining and purifying silver, and he will purify the Levites, refining them like gold or silver, that they may bring offerings to the Lord in righteousness. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will please the Lord, as in ancient days, as in years gone by.” (Malachi 3:2-4) Anyone reading this text would be distracted by words like “refiner’s fire” and “fullers’ lye” but has anybody endured any harm due to the Baptist’s witness? Not that I know of. Similarly, the very first sentence of the first reading today is eye-catching and will conjure up the image of the end of the world. “For the day is coming, blazing like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set them on fire, leaving them neither root nor branch” (3:19) and we’ll easily miss “But for you who fear my name, there will arise the sun of justice with its healing rays” (3:20a) and the healing that follows! Remember what we read last week. Our God is not a God of the dead but God of the living. He purifies and heals and has no intention to destroy and kill!

Let’s read again the gospel text. Again people will easily be distracted by descriptions of false Messiahs (Luke 21:8), wars and insurrections (21:9-10), earthquakes, famines and plagues, near miss of asteroids (21:11), religious and political persecutions (21:12), betrayals as well as deaths (21:16) and hate speeches (21:17) etc. Come on, give me a break. Human history is littered with innumerable events such as these and I’m 100% sure that more will continue to be served! Instead let’s not lose sight of the focus! God is accompanying us in all these tribulations. He’ll defend us against accusations (21:14-15), He assures us that “not a hair on your head will be destroyed” (21:18). What we need to do is to persevere, “By your perseverance you will secure your lives” (21:19). In what should we persevere? That’s the right question to ask! Of course, we should not persevere in decoding the doomsday! Instead, we should keep pace with the Lord. When we claim that God is accompanying us, people would ask “where is your God?” (Psalms 42:3) That’s a very good question! Lord Jesus Christ our God is among the poor, the disadvantaged and the socially marginalized.

In 2016 at the closing of the Jubilee of Mercy, Pope Francis announced to make the Thirty-third Ordinary Sunday the “World Day of the Poor”. This year, the theme is “For your sakes Christ became poor” (2 Corinthians 8:9). Jesus Christ the Son of God is infinitely wealthy and yet for our sakes He chose to become flesh (John 1:14), was born in a manger (Luke 2:7), crucified like a criminal and was buried in someone else’s tomb! Truly, the Son of Man has no place to rest his head (9:58). He defeated death, came back to life and returned to the Father. And yet, He chose to remain on earth to accompany believers until the end of the age (Matthew 28:20) in the humble species of unleavened bread and grape wine. Moreover, to give us easy access to Him, He is present among the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, the homeless, the sick and the imprisoned (25:35-36). He is not aloft and unreachable. Jesus invites us to be in solidarity with Him by “sharing the little we have with those who have nothing, so that no one will go without.” (2022 World Day of the Poor Message) To make life easy, many people prefer ganging up with the wealthy and the powerful. Unfortunately, the Son of God prefers the ricked to the rich, the meek to the mighty! Thus, His Bride the Church opts for the poor since Vatican II.

Brethren! The End is open-ended. The only certainty we have in hand is the unambiguous advice the Son of God gives us, “By your perseverance you will secure your lives.” (Luke 21:19) Let us never grow tired of sharing the little we have with those who have not.
God bless!
5^th World Day of the Poor
Picture Credit: caritasbrentwood.org