First Reading - Malachi 3:19-20
Second Reading - 2 Thessalonians 3:7-12
Gospel - Luke 21:5-19
As the Church year comes to an end, the Sunday readings reflect on the final days of the world, our own death and the Final Judgment. Today’s theme is “The Day of the Lord” or the “Second Coming” of Jesus in glory as Judge at the end of the world.
Malachi, in the first reading, foretells this Day, giving the warning that the future, known to God alone, will bring healing and reward for the Faith-filled just who forearm themselves with words and works (peace, justice, mercy, and truth), and retribution for the “proud and all evildoers.”
Today’s Responsorial Psalm (Ps 98) refers to Jesus in his Second Coming: “The Lord…comes to rule the earth; He will rule the world with Justice and the peoples with equity” (Ps 98:9). The Psalmist offers us a song of joy and praise for the glory of God Who will come at last to rule His world. Although Paul expected to be alive at the return of Jesus, he cautioned the Thessalonians, in today’s second reading, against the idleness with which some of them were anticipating the end, and he encouraged them not to be weary of doing good. He suggested that their best preparation for the future was to devote their attention to present duties, to maintain a holy and wholesome balance among prayer and service, work and play, and to develop enduring family ties and values.
Today’s Gospel passage warns us that the date of the end of the world is uncertain. Signs and portents will precede the end, and the faithful will be called upon to testify before kings and governors. The Good News, however, is that those who persevere in faithfulness to the Lord will save their souls and enter God’s eternal kingdom. Christ’s Second Coming is something to celebrate, because he is going to present all creation to his Heavenly Father. That is why we proclaim His Second Coming at Mass: “We proclaim Your death, O Lord, and profess Your Resurrection, until You come again.” For Luke’s community which had experienced much persecution, Jesus’ words about people being “handed over by parents, brothers, relations, and friends,” were beginning to come true. They would find, as did Jesus’ original disciples, that Jesus’ promise of the protective power of a providing God through all of this would serve them as a real encouragement to persevere in Faith and its practice: “By your perseverance you will secure your lives.” Jesus also prophesied the signs of the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the world in order to prepare his original disciples for this more immediate coming disaster and to remind them to rely upon him for Salvation, not their own power.
Dear friends, we need to beprepared daily for death and judgment. The ideal way to accept Jesus’ apocalyptic message is always to be ready to face our death. We must live holy lives of selfless love, mercy, compassion, and unconditional forgiveness, remembering the demands of justice in our day-to-day lives. We must also take time to rest and to pray in order to keep our hearts alive to God’s presence with us and within us. Daily examination of our conscience at bedtime, asking God’s pardon and forgiveness, also prepares us to face God at any time to give an account of our lives.
We need to attain permanence in a passing world by leading exemplary lives. Our homes, our Churches and even our own lives are temporary. All our structures are provisional. Our influence has no more claims to permanence than our buildings. Hence, our task is not to build monuments of any kind, but to be faithful to Christ. How our faithfulness is expressed each day is the most important thing. We are to persevere in our Faith, despite worldly temptations, attacks on religion, and moral values by the atheistic or agnostic media, threats of social isolation, and direct or indirect persecution because of our religious beliefs. Let us conclude this Church year by praying for the grace to endure trials patiently for they are essential to our affirmation of Jesus our Savior.
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