SUNDAY READINGS - 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
FIRST READING: Malachi 3:19-20. Behold, the day comes, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble; the day that comes shall burn them up, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. But for you who fear my name the sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings.
EXPLANATION: The prophet Malachi, whose name means my messenger or Yahweh's messenger, preached to the returned exiles about the year 450 B.C. Forcibly and bluntly he speaks against the sins of his fellow Jews. Many of them were not proving themselves worthy of the mercy that God had shown them when he released them from their Babylonian exile. In the two verses chosen for today's first reading the prophet has dire threats for the confirmed sinners and words of hope for the just when the day of judgment, which is surely coming, arrives.
Behold . . . comes: That is, the day of retribution, of judgment. The day of the Lord when he will punish the wicked and reward his faithful ones, is here referred to. Almost all the prophets of the Old Testament had a reference to this day. Here Malachi says it is coming, it is near at hand.
burning like an oven: For the wicked this day, or event, will be like a highly heated smelting furnace, into which they will be cast like useless stubble to be burned into ashes.
neither root nor branch: Nothing will be left of them.
says the Lord of hosts: This threat is attributed to God. Malachi is only his mouth-piece.
But for you: On the other hand, for those who have served God faithfully, this day of judgment will be a day of joy, a day of sunshine and consolation, a day when all their wounds will be healed by the gentle rays of the sun.
APPLICATION: This reminder of the day of the Lord, of the day of judgment, was chosen for this Sunday's reading because it is, in a sense, the last Sunday of the liturgical year. Next Sunday is dedicated to the Feast of Christ the King, so it is only right and fitting that we should be reminded of our last end on the last Sunday of our liturgical year. The second reading and the Gospel have a somewhat similar theme.
It is true that many of the prophets of the Old Testament stressed the justice of God very much and seldom referred to his mercy. Malachi belongs to this group. We must not forget that they were dealing with a stubborn, selfish people, who served God more out of fear than out of love. When their earthly affairs prospered they forgot him and all his kindness to them. The vast majority of them thought of him only when some personal or national disaster threatened. Therefore, the prophets, the preachers whom God sent to them, spoke in the language they could understand.
However, we must not forget that they had not witnessed the infinite mercy of God, as shown in the Incarnation, which we Christians have witnessed. Neither had they heard of that divine mercy which our loving Father has for every human being whom he has put on earth. We have this knowledge from the lips of God's divine Son, Christ our Lord, who tells us that God wants the eternal death of no sinner, no matter how wicked he be, but rather that that sinner be converted and live eternally.
Furthermore, the Jews had only a very limited revelation as regards the future life. They had some vague idea that those who had died in the Lord, at peace with God, would sometime in the remote future live again with God. For the time being, they were vague shadows living some form of inactive, attenuated life in the underworld, a place which they called Sheol. They expected their rewards and punishments in this life.
The prophet's words, therefore, stressed the frightening aspect of God's justice, without any hint at possible mercy. He knew the religious, or rather irreligious, outlook of his contemporaries. For the great majority of them, relations with God were governed by fear rather than by love. Thanks to the deeper knowledge of God which his Incarnate Son has given to us, we now know God as a loving Father who wants us all to be his loving, obedient and grateful children. He has made known to us what St. Paul calls: "the mystery hidden for generations and centuries and which has now been revealed to his saints. This mystery is Christ among you, your hope of glory" (Col. 1: 26-27). To his Ephesian converts Paul says : "Before the world was made he (God) chose us in Christ, to be holy and spotless and to live through love in his presence determining that we should become his adopted sons through Jesus Christ" (Eph. 1: 4-5). With this knowledge of the God of love we can put fear aside. We can strive instead to render all the thanks of which we are capable, for the wonderful, infinite love and mercy he has shown to us through sending his divine Son to us and making us his adopted children.
Children can of course sometimes be ungrateful to the kindest and most generous of parents. Let us look back today over the past year and see if we were always grateful, obedient children of the kindest and most generous of Fathers. If we failed now and then we can make up for that forgetfulness. We can ask him for forgiveness, and it will be gladly granted. We all are another year nearer to our eternal home. Please God we have made great strides on our journey to heaven already. With the help of God's grace we will make even greater progress in the year or years that God may still give us.
"The sun of justice with its healing rays," that is, the blessed vision of God in his and our eternal home, will rise for us some-day soon when the darkness of earthly death will close our bodily eyes. So may it be for each and every one of us.
SECOND READING: 2 Thessalonians 3: 7-12. You yourselves know how you ought to imitate us; we were not idle when we were with you, we did not eat any one's bread without paying, but with toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not burden any of you. It was not because we have not that right, but to give you in our conduct an example to imitate. For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: If any one will not work, let him not eat. For we hear that some of you are living in idleness, mere busybodies; not doing any work. Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work in quietness and to earn their own living.
EXPLANATION: In his two letters to the Thessalonians, Paul praises their faith and good works. They are an example to the other Christian communities. However, as in the best of communities, there were a few amongst them who were unwilling to earn their daily bread and were abusing the charity of their fellow Christians. Their excuse for this kind of conduct was that the parousia, or General Judgment, was imminent. Paul had not told them that it was imminent, but that it would come "like a thief in the night." These idlers were only looking for an excuse for their laziness. Paul condemns this dishonesty and in the sixth verse, which immediately precedes today's reading, he tells the brethren to "keep away from any of the brothers who refuses to work." As he did while he was amongst them he then goes on to encourage the whole Christian community to avoid idleness and to earn their daily bread honestly.
You . . . know how you ought to imitate us: By imitating Paul they would be imitating Christ whom Paul always tried to imitate (see 1 Cor. 11: 1, etc.).
we . . . bread: While Paul was preaching the gospel in Thessalonica he earned his daily bread by practicing his trade of tent-making.
worked . . . day: Whenever he was free from preaching he worked with his hands to earn his livelihood.
not . . . right: As he was their teacher they were bound to support him. But he wanted to be for them
an example . . . imitate: He wanted to encourage them all to engage in honest labor and so support themselves.
anyone . . . work: Even while he was present amongst them there were some who evidently were inclined to idle and let others provide for them. So he laid down a rule that no idler should be given free meals. This would not be true charity but would rather encourage the sin of idleness.
We hear . . . busybodies: Instead of doing their own work idlers were interfering with the others who were working.
We . . . exhort: With all his authority as their Apostle in Christ he now appeals to them to change their lives and earn their livelihood by working peacefully and quietly, that is, not disturbing the others who worked.
APPLICATION: Around the turn of the last century, and the first decade of this, it was customary for able-bodied male emigrants, going from Europe to America, to "work their passage." This meant that they traveled free of charge provided they worked as crew members on the sailing ships which were then the means of transport across the Atlantic. For the vast majority of them, who had not the wherewithal to pay for their transport, this was not a hardship but a favor. The three to four weeks' strenuous and tiring labor seemed as nothing when they thought of the land of freedom and plenty which it enabled them to reach.
We are on a voyage, the voyage of life, which will end on the shores of eternity. It is God's plan for us that during our voyage we should earn entry into that land of freedom and plenty by "working our passage." For our period of preparation, he created this earth for us to live on. For our needs he gave it the power to produce the fruits and vegetables, as well as the animals of the fields, the birds of the air and the fishes in the sea. He handed over to man all these gifts for his use and sustenance. Man was to use his gifts of mind and muscle to master the lower creatures and put them to his service. In other words, God provided the raw material. By his labor man had to produce the finished article.
From the beginning this was the law of God for man. Christianity did not change his obligation of labor in any way, except that it exalted man's labor and gave him a more noble motive for his daily toil. The Christian labors not only to provide the necessities of life for himself but thereby to honor God and, where possible, help his needy neighbor.
There were some among the Thessalonian converts who thought that they were freed from this obligation of daily labor, because they should concentrate all their thoughts and time on the eternal life which was around the corner. St. Paul corrects this erroneous, view. He tells them that they must earn their living by honest labor, for the vice of idleness was no preparation for meeting their Judge.
The great Apostle has the same message for all of us too. It is for all, for the millionaire as well as for the penniless person, for the managing director as well as for the office-cleaner. We must all use the gifts of mind and body which God gave us. We are to do so not only to provide for our own temporal necessities but, where possible, to produce a surplus that is so badly needed by our fellowman in less developed parts of our world today. Laziness is still a vice and an evil inclination which can worm its way into any man no matter what his social status in life may be. Perhaps we are inclined to notice it more in the lower social grades, because the number of such workers is greater. Of course, there is no denying that far too many of these workers are not always honest in their dealings with their employers. Too often their ideal is to get the greatest amount of pay for the least amount of labor. Generally the result is that they do an injustice to their employers, to their fellow workers and to the consumers of the goods which they produce.
However, the employers and business managers can also do an injustice to their employees and to the general public. They do so if, through idleness, they waste the time which they should spend in planning and directing and working for the progress of the business concern which they own or manage. Their sin of laziness seldom gets the publicity it deserves, nor does it often register in their own consciences. Yet as far as the progress of his business and the general prosperity of his city or country is concerned, one negligent and idling director can do more harm than a hundred slacking factory-hands.
We all need to examine our consciences and see if we are honestly "working our passage" to heaven. Do we rest on our oars when we feel that we have enough for ourselves? Do we think of our neighbors at home and abroad who could be helped by a little extra labor on our part? Does the father of the family provide for his household or does he waste his working days because of drinking bouts or other sinful habits? Does the mother of the house work honestly and through her thrift and economy provide for her husband and children? Do the teenagers waste their earnings, or their parents' earnings, on unnecessary amusements and luxuries while neighbors are short of bread?
As Christians, we should set the example to all others. We know that God gave us the mental and physical gifts we possess. We know too that we must one day render an account of the use we have made of the talents he gave us. If we use them honestly they will pay our passage to our heavenly home. If we abuse them and waste them we shall never see that promised land.
GOSPEL: Luke 21:5-19. As some spoke of the temple, how it was adorned with noble stones and offerings, Jesus said, "As for these things which you see, the days will come when there shall not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down." And they asked him, "Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign when this is about to take place?" And he said, "Take heed that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name, saying, 'I am he!' and, 'The time is at hand!' Do not go after them. And when you hear of wars and tumults, do not be terrified; for this must first take place, but the end will not be at once."
Then he said to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilence; and there will be terrors and great signs from heaven. But before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name's sake. This will be a time for you to bear testimony. Settle it therefore in your minds, not to meditate beforehand how to answer; for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and kinsmen and friends, and some of you they will put to death; you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your lives."
EXPLANATION: Standing in the Temple square in Jerusalem, surrounded by the crowd, Jesus foretells the destruction of this Temple and of Jerusalem. He also refers to the end of the world but implies that it is a long way off. He foretells persecution and torture for his followers but they will triumph in the end. They will earn eternal life.
temple . . . adorned . . . stones: Some of the crowd were admiring the beauty of the Temple when Jesus said to them
not . . . one stone . . . another: The Romans leveled the Temple to the ground in the year 70 A.D. fulfilling his prophecy to the letter.
when will this be?: This question concerns not the destruction of the Temple but the end of the world, as our Lord's answer indicates.
many will come in my name: False Messiahs will appear before the end of the world trying to mislead Christians.
Nation . . . earthquakes . . . famines: Many troubles and misfortunes will occur. Before the end of the world nation will fight nation, kingdom will be against kingdom.
great signs: Christ uses the eschatological language of the prophets and of the apocalyptic writers which are to be understood symbolically. Nothing definite can be deduced from these words as to what these signs will be which will precede the end. That it is in the distant future seems clear from the fact that many other events must take place first.
before all this: He is now telling his disciples and followers that they will have their own personal tribulations to face in the near future because of their faith in him.
parents . . . brothers . . . friends: The first generation of Jewish converts to Christianity were betrayed and even persecuted by their own relatives and families.
endurance: If they bear their sufferings for Christ's name they will earn the true life, the eternal life of heaven.
APPLICATION: The reason why these verses of St. Luke's gospel were chosen for today's Mass is that the Church wants us all to do a bit of spiritual stock-taking this morning. As next Sunday will be the special feastday of the Kingship of Christ, today's Mass is really the last of our liturgical year. We begin our new liturgical year, the First Sunday of Advent, on next Sunday week.
To help us to be honest with ourselves in our stock-taking we are reminded today that this world will come to an end one day. We do not know when or how but that end will come. It will be followed immediately by the general judgment. Christ will come in power and glory to judge the whole human race. Each one will receive the sentence he merited while on earth. The just will enter with him into eternal glory. The wicked will go to their place of suffering, sorrow and remorse.
Long before that day comes everyone of us here present today, will already have faced his or her own particular judgment. It is this judgment which will seal our eternal fate. It is on this judgment that we should try to concentrate this morning. It is to help and encourage us to do just this, that the church brings the thought of the end of the world before our minds. The end of this world will come for each one of us when we draw our last breath. How will we stand in God's sight when that moment comes? An eternity of happiness or grief will depend on our spiritual state at that moment.
The thought of death is a frightening thought for most people. They would rather put it far from their minds, but of all the other things that can possibly happen to them on this earth death is the one and only certainty. It would be utter folly then to try to ignore it or forget it. It is not the moment or the circumstances or the fact itself of death that matters. The vast majority, even of those dying of a slow illness, do not know that they are on the point of death. What matters is the judgment which follows death. How will we fare in that?
Each one of us can put the following simple question to himself this very moment. How would I fare if I were called before the judgment seat of God today? The best of us would certainly prefer to be better prepared. There is so much good I have left undone, so many faults for which I have not atoned properly, so many uncharitable thoughts about my friends and neighbors in my mind, so many acts of charity I kept postponing, so many acts of thanksgiving and praise I have not made to my loving God.
What of those who have even more serious sins on their consciences? Over two hundred thousand people will leave this world between now and midnight. If we were called, and we have no guarantee that we will not be called today, could we dare to face our judgment in our present state? "Today if you hear God's voice harden not your heart" the scripture warns us. Today you have heard him speak to you. He has reminded you that your end is coming, that you should put your spiritual accounts in order. This is an act of God's mercy. He does not need you, It is you who need him. Your eternal future will depend on whether you listen to his call today, as tomorrow may be too late. You can put your accounts straight this very day. Why take a risk with your own eternal welfare?
The Christian who wants to die in the state of grace, that is, in the friendship of God (and can there be any real Christian who would not want to?) has but one way of making sure of this. He is to try to live always in God's friendship. The man who does this by living his Christian life daily need not fear death. It may be a sudden death, but it will never be an unprovided-for death.
