16.11.2003 33rd Sunday Ordinary Season
First Reading: Daniel 12, 1-3
Psalm 15
Second Reading: Hebrews 10, 11-14,18
Gospel: Mark 13, 24-32
Towards the end of the liturgical year, the Word helps us to reflect upon the
final and definitive reality: "I await the resurrection of the dead and
the life of the world to come"! Every Sunday we express this certainty,
but then perhaps, in the concreteness of life we give it little possibility
to fructify. It teaches us to live with our thoughts on the afterlife, on what
is waiting for us when our days on earth are over!
Our Lord himself spoke of the end of all things, from the most stable and obvious, like the sun and the moon, to those which are more invisible and mysterious, like "the powers of the heavens": he wants us to be ready, ready like someone who is at the door of the house to greet the coming guest. Indeed, when all ends, not everything ends: it is then we will meet he who loves us, he who came to give his life for us!
When all is over, we will be able to see, with amazement, the Son of man, - he who was denied, derided and persecuted by the important and influential - clothed in the greatest glory that can be given to man, the glory of God!
He is awaiting the end of everything to manifest himself: nothing will prevent us then from recognizing him. Those who have loved him, will be filled with joy. Those who have ignored him or pretended not to see him or been hostile towards him will tremble and be afraid, because they will feel out of place, empty and far from life. They have, indeed, denied the only One able to redeem us before God, despite our sins and spiritual infirmities which cause us such shame.
That day is described by the prophet Daniel: with particularly expressive language he gives us a glimpse of what will happen. "Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt" Great joy for the former and terror for the latter. What we would call paradise and hell. These words are used less and less, because in our superficiality we are forgetting the origins and the aim of our pilgrimage on earth. We come from the Father who is the creator of everything, including our lives, which will end in His hands! When we think of the future we cannot help but remember that we started out in order to meet Him!
We started out: this does not mean that we will arrive for sure at eternal joy, for there are obstacles, - our sins! These are paths or deviations that cause us to waste time, to go far astray, to lose our way, that lead us to hell, or in other words to the eternal anguish of separation and refusal. God, in His wisdom and mercy knew this could happen and so sent His Son who offered one single sacrifice for once and for all, for our sins! Having eliminated our sins, he has sanctified us, made us perfect, so that with him we need no longer fear that we will lose the way or be forgotten by our Father!
How can we enter the vortex of love of the Father and the Son? How can we maintain peace and the certainty of arriving at our goal, our meeting with the Father who is waiting for us with arms outstretched? He sent Jesus to meet us! From the many signs he gave us, we are able to recognize him without anyone having to convince us. Now we have his words, words that do not pass away, that do not lose their worth with the passing of the years, that do not fade as do fashions and ideologies. Heaven and earth will pass away: all that we see and all that man is able to think of or do will pass away. The Word of Jesus maintains its value into eternity: we can trust it, it will guide us on the path which leads to the meeting with the Father and to His eternal embrace! Paradise is just that, the eternal embrace of the Father, the perfect joy one experiences when the love one receives and gives is total!
With Jesus we have started along the path towards Paradise: with Jesus we can already live the pledge of joy: we can live in safety, trust, serenity, peace, even in the midst of troubles which cannot be avoided while we are here on earth. Listening to his Word, pledging to keep and observe it, gives us even now, a foretaste of that peace and that joy which we call Paradise!
With these thoughts, today's liturgy helps us to prepare for the wait of Advent!