Dn 12:1-3; Ps 15(16); Hb 10:11-14, 18; Mk 13:24-32
Nothing Permanent on Earth
Dear friends, today is the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B. Next Sunday will be the last Sunday of the Liturgical Year B and the Feast of Christ the King. The liturgical year begins with the advent of the Son of God and ends with his triumph as the King of heaven and earth. If you have followed the readings of the five seasons in the liturgical year, you must have understood well all that entails the kingdom of God. Year C will complete the three-year cycle in which we read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. What have you learned about the Kingdom of God from year B?
As we come to the close of the year, the readings evoke in us the thoughts of the end of time when all things will cease. Many know that the end in inevitable they have mourned the death of someone close. Nevertheless, they still leave as though their own end will never come. God kept death a profound mystery to everyone. If we were to know the date and the time of our death, I guess we would be very disturbed. Life would be very different on Earth.
A Swahili refrain says, “Kila kilicho na mwanzo sharti kiwe na mwisho” meaning. “Everything that has a beginning must end one day”. This is a fact that no one can dispute. Events come and go, sickness comes and go, parties begin and end, regime comes and go, people come and go. All that is left is the reminiscence of the past that either brings us joy or sadness. However, we should not be stuck in our bad past but should march with faith and hope towards the unknown future. All we need is to trust in God who gave us a foretaste of what awaits us in Christ Jesus and strive to live according to his plan and will.
In the first reading today, prophet Daniel talks about the end of time when all will sleep and then awaken. Some will awake to everlasting life and others to shame and everlasting disgrace. All this will be determined by the kind of life one has lived until that day. If you were to sleep today, where do you think, you would awake to?
The book of Hebrews tells us that Jesus, through his passion and death, offered one sacrifice for the forgiveness of the sins once and for all. Therefore, we do not need to repeat the sacrifice but to relive it in his memory, “Do this in memory of me”. However, salvation is not imposed on anyone. We have all been given freedom to choose the path we want; the one that leads to eternal life or the one that leads to eternal damnation. The question is: where do you think the path you are following is leading you?
In the Gospel passage, Jesus describes the last days. In those days all the powerful powers of the universe, the sun, the moon, the stars, will cease but his word will remain. About the exact day and hour, God has intentionally kept it from us. The mystery of death just like the mystery of life itself gives life meaning. Why would anyone work so hard and invest so much if he or she knew that they had only a few months or years left on earth? So far, the world has not ended yet for you and me, but we have witnessed the end of the world for the individuals we know. So, no matter how many friends we have or how popular we may be, everyone faces his or her own death. What happens during those last moments is what no one alive can tell. So do not be cheated by some self-proclaimed prophets that death is like this or like that. They do not know even about their own death. Some may even say they do not care about the last day; nevertheless, it will come anyway.
Blaise Pascal, A seventeen-century French Philosopher asked: “Which has more gains or losses: to believe that God exists or that he does not exist? On one hand, if one believes God exists and lives an honest life and finds, upon death, that indeed he existed, he wins. If he finds that God does not exist, he doesn’t lose either. On the other hand, if one disbelieves that God exists and therefore lives a sinful life, and upon death finds out that he did not, he wins. However, if he finds out that indeed God existed, he loses. Where would you bet, believing or not believing?
Today, therefore, I invite us to reflect upon the things we accord priority in our lives. Are these things going to benefit us on the last day? Will the excuses I give for not praying, not going to worship, not working for justice, being arrogant, and being corrupt, be justified in the end? When is the end?
Have a blessed Sunday.
Fr. Lawrence Muthee, SVD
SVD JAMBO KENTAN 