Saturday of the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
Today's Scripture
Appropriately, on this final day of the liturgical year, we have reflections about the apocalypse, or the second coming of Jesus. “Apocalypse” in Greek literally means “revelation” or “pulling back the veil” (Hence the title of the last book of the Bible). We generally talk about “revelation” as the way that God makes Himself known to us – in Scripture and preeminently in Jesus Himself.
In today’s gospel passage from Luke, Jesus identifies himself with the “Son of Man” from the book of Daniel (Lk 21:36). Who is this Son of Man? What does this title mean? Jesus’ contemporaries knew well the passage from Daniel (Dn 7:13-14) which comes immediately before today’s first reading. The Son of Man in that passage is God’s servant who will reign over the everlasting kingdom we hear about in today’s reading.
If Jesus has come to bring the reign of God’s everlasting kingdom, then why do we then talk about a “second coming?” Wasn’t one enough? Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection inaugurates the age of the everlasting Kingdom of God, but its coming is not yet fulfilled. So it’s begun, but will reach completion at the second coming. We know from looking at the world that we cannot see the full beauty of God – why else would there be so much sin and suffering? At the second coming of Jesus, we will see God in His fullness, and there will be “no more suffering, no more tears, no more sadness” to quote one of the Eucharistic prayers.
Looking around, though, we also can see evidence that the Kingdom is inaugurated, where God’s love reigns. This looks like Christians non-violently praying the rosary at an abortion clinic. It looks like one million people protesting the building of a wall to block Mexican immigrants, with Cardinal Mahoney, archbishop of Los Angeles, right in the middle of it saying “Papers or no papers, we will turn no one away from our Church.” This looks like communities of Christians preparing a Thanksgiving feast for those who would go hungry. It looks like a Church full of voices pledging themselves to God and to one another by reciting the creed, uniting their voices with the choirs of angels in Heaven to proclaim God’s praises in the Gloria, and gathering around the Eucharistic table to share of the one loaf and one cup that is the Body and Blood of Christ. These are only a few examples, but for sure, what it doesn’t look like is what everyone else is doing. The citizens of the Kingdom of God and their actions are clearly distinct.
Early Christians perceived his return to be imminent and so they responded by abandoning their work and other responsibilities. In today’s gospel, Jesus instructs his disciples to be “vigilant at all times” (Lk 21:36). Of course, this should challenge what we do on a daily basis, not impel us to run from it. Let us ask the hard question of whether we are prepared to see Christ. Let us end the year by reflecting on the end times for a few minutes today. Does what I do on a daily basis allow God’s Kingdom to break in or do I shut it out? How am I preparing for Christ’s return daily?
Many early Christians perceived his return to be imminent and so they responded by abandoning their work and other responsibilities. In today’s gospel, Jesus instructs his disciples to be “vigilant at all times” (Lk 21:36). Of course, this should challenge what we do on a daily basis, not impel us to run from it. Let us ask the hard question of whether we are prepared to see Christ. Let us end the year by reflecting on the end times for a few minutes today. Does what I do on a daily basis allow God’s Kingdom to break in or do I shut it out? How am I preparing for Christ’s return daily?
- Tim Gabrielli