Holy Spirit Catholic Church
Homilies
Archive
33rd Sunday in
Ordinary Time
November 19, 2006
It's hard to admit, but the old Soviet Union's Communist government had a great idea for preparing its citizens for bad news. They interrupted all regularly scheduled radio and TV programs and began playing somber symphonic music in place of them. Sometimes the music played for an hour. Sometimes it played for an entire day; sometimes it even played longer.
The purpose of the music was to prepare the people, psychologically and spiritually, for an unpleasant announcement, for example, the death of a Russian leader or the death of a Russian cosmonaut. This practice would drive our news media absolutely crazy, but I believe the Russians had a point. People need to be prepared for bad news! Just think back to 9/11 and the trauma caused to family members and school children by the instantaneous coverage and reporting of that tragedy.
Today's gospel portrays Jesus preparing the people for bad news. He tells them that a great catastrophe is going to take place in their lifetime. Moreover, it will be preceded by certain signs.
History records that Jesus was talking about the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. This catastrophe took place within 40 years of Jesus' death. It brought an end to the Old Testament world as Jews of Jesus' time knew it.
This helps to explain why Jesus' warning of the catastrophe has always been interpreted by Christians as a warning, also, of the end of the entire world. And this is how the Church uses it in today's gospel: to refer not to the end of the Old Testament world, but to the end of the entire world.
No one knows the day or the hour when that monumental event will take place. Only our Father in heaven knows that. But certain signs will precede that end, just as certain signs preceded the end of the Old Testament world.
Some people think there are signs taking place today that suggest that the end of the world is near. I can't help but smile, or maybe smirk, when I think back seven years ago when we were preparing to enter this new millennium. Many people were running around anxious, panicky, preaching gloom and doom; that this was going to be it!
Now the sign they point to is the proliferation of military weapons, especially among terrorist-oriented nations. For example, nearly a dozen countries, some with a reputation for terror tactics, now have the nuclear capacity to plunge our world into a dark age. One mistake or one angry act could trigger an event that could doom millions of people, even our entire planet. No prudent person can take lightly such a disturbing possibility!
In today's gospel, Jesus sets before us two sobering themes: the suddenness with which our life could end and our preparedness for that end. These are themes that we cannot afford to take lightly or to dismiss casually. These are themes that have the potential to change our lives.
And that's why the Church sets these two themes before us at the end of our liturgical year. It wants to remind us, as Jesus reminded his disciples at the end of his own earthly life, that life on earth is but a brief preparation for an eternal life to come. Therefore, we should not get so involved with our earthly life here that we lose sight of our eternal life to come.
No one knows when our earthly life will end or when the world will end. Only the Father in heaven knows that. Therefore, we should always be prepared for that moment.
It will come when we least expect it. It will come suddenly, giving us little or no time to prepare.
Several years ago a Japanese airliner crashed into a mountain in Japan, killing all 520 people on board. Minutes before the airliner hit the mountain, the passengers were told that the plane was doomed. Then the tragedy occurred.
When rescuers reached the plane, one of the things they found in the debris was a pocket calendar that belonged to a Japanese businessman. Across the pages of the small calendar the man had scribbled several hasty notes as the final minutes ticked off.
For example, one note read, "We're not going to make it…I’m sad and scared!" A second note addressed to his family read, "To think that our dinner last night was the last time we would be together." And a final note addressed to his three children read, "Be good, work hard, and help your mother." These hurried notes are those of a man caught off guard. No somber music played for an hour or a day to prepare him for the bad news. It came suddenly, like a thief in the night!
This is also the point of Jesus' remarks in today's gospel. None of us knows when the end of our life or of all life on earth will come. Therefore, we must always be prepared! This is the message that Jesus speaks to us in today's gospel; the message that Jesus wants us to ponder prayerfully and that we cannot afford to ignore!