Today is the penultimate Sunday of this liturgical year. For those who are scratching their heads, “penultimate” (a great word) means “next-to-last.” Since each year on the Feast of Christ the King, the final Sunday of the liturgical year, we ritually commemorate the end of the world, our Gospel reading for today is fittingly apocalyptic in anticipation of next Sunday.
“Apocalyptic” (another great word) refers to something covered or unknown being unveiled or revealed. This is why another title for the Book of Revelation is “The Apocalypse.”
Sometimes it’s easy to forget or, perhaps more accurately, ignore that we believe and profess Christ “will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead” (The Roman Missal, English Translation According to the Third Typical Edition, The Order of Mass, sec. 18). Today’s Gospel shows us that this teaching comes from the Lord himself. While we believe that he will return in glory to gather his elect, we do not know the day nor the hour of his return. Every attempt to predict Christ’s Second Coming has been wrong. For some people who have believed those who claimed to know the day and the hour of the Lord’s return, this has proven catastrophic.
Because we do not know when Christ will return, like the ten wise virgins in Matthew's Gospel, we need to live in a state of readiness (Matt 25:1-13). In our Gospel reading for today, Jesus tells those listening that his return is imminent, thus implying they should be prepared. Among other things, being prepared to meet the Lord means not growing weary during our hopeful waiting. It means not becoming distracted by our society’s many allurements, almost all of which are like eating junk food to satisfy real hunger. After professing that Christ will return to judge the living and the dead, in the Creed we confess that his “kingdom will have no end” (The Roman Missal, English Translation According to the Third Typical Edition, The Order of Mass, sec. 18). Making yourself ready for the coming of God's unending kingdom means living it now as a present reality instead of deferring it, believing it has nothing to do with how you live.
Who are the elect that Jesus speaks about in today’s Gospel reading? They are the ones who live the kingdom of God as a present reality. This means living in accordance with those teachings Jesus imparted in his School of Discipleship. If you remember, Jesus's teaching centered on the fact that you become great by serving others for the sake of God’s kingdom. Indeed, he taught the way you save your life is by losing it for his sake, while seeking to save your life will result in losing it.
In St Mark’s Gospel, once the lessons that make-up Jesus’s School of Discipleship are concluded, what these things mean immediately begin to become clear. The first encounter in the section of Mark’s Gospel that follows the “On the Way” section occurs as Jesus and the disciples pass through Jericho. It is from Jericho that they will make their way up the mountain to Jerusalem. Passing through the town, they encounter the blind man, Bartimaeus. Despite being blind, Bartimaeus is the only one who “sees” that Jesus is the Messiah. This is indicated by his calling this itinerant rabbi from Nazareth “son of David” (Mark 10:47-48). Son of David is a Messianic greeting. And so, even before restoring his eyesight, Jesus tells the blind beggar, “Go your way; your faith has saved you” (Mark 10:52). Rather than going his own way, Bartimaeus follows Jesus.
The Last Judgment, by Giotto, 1306
After arriving in Jerusalem, Jesus encounters the sincere scribe who asks him which of all the commandments are the greatest. For observant Jews of Jesus's day, observance of the Law meant adhering to the 613 mitzvot (mitzvot means "words" in Hebrew). These were 613 rules, dos and donts, the observance of which constituted keeping the Law. He wanted to know which of all these were the greatest. The Lord answers this serious inquiry from the heart of the Torah by telling the scribe the end to which all the other commandments are but the means: loving God with your whole being and loving your neighbor as yourself (Mark 12:30-31; Deut 6:4-6; Lev 19:18).
Understanding the Lord, the scribe makes the relevant point, which bears a similarity to our reading from the Letter to the Hebrews: “to love [God] with all your heart, with all your understanding, with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself' is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices” (Mark 12:33). This realization prompts the Lord to tell him: “You are not far from the kingdom of God” (Mark 12:34). After Jesus tells the scribe this, the inspired author of Mark relates that nobody dared ask him any more questions (Ibid.). This is a curious remark, is it not? Why did no one dare to ask him more questions? Perhaps it was because they found his answer perhaps a bit too challenging.
In last week’s Gospel, we heard about the poor widow who put what little money she had into the Temple treasury. Observing her at a distance, Jesus tells those who were with him that her few pennies are worth more than the much larger bequests made by wealthier people (See Mark 12:41-44). These three people bring to life the lessons Jesus taught the Twelve while they were “On the Way.” By so doing, they also provide the criteria for judgment.
Lest we grow discouraged by the high demands Jesus makes of those who would follow him, our reading from Hebrews today should encourage us. Jesus Christ is the Mercy of God. All of the sacrifices made in the Temple were but foreshadowings of the one sacrifice Christ made on the cross. By believing that Jesus is the Christ we who are set apart by baptism and confirmation are being made perfect by grace. We come to this table of Word and Sacrament each week to receive the instruction and strength we need to live as Jesus’s followers and to encourage each other as we walk the road of life.
By living in the expectation of Jesus’s imminent return, which we do by nurturing the mustard seed that is God kingdom, planted by Jesus, we don’t need to worry ourselves about looking for esoteric signs of his coming. Besides, seeking such signs, as the Lord indicated, is a futile endeavor. As we contemplate the end of the world, or at least call to mind the horizon of our own mortal lives in preparation for a new liturgical year, a new year of grace, I hope all of us re-commit ourselves following Jesus. You do this by loving God with your entire being. You cannot love God completely without also loving your neighbor as yourself. You cannot love your neighbor, who, Jesus tells us in the Parable of the Good Samaritan is the person you encounter who needs help (Luke 10:29-37), without serving her.
There is a story told about St Francis: one day he was working in the garden with another friar when the friar asked Francis, who was committed to serving others and who knew what it means to call Jesus Lord, what he would do if the Lord returned right at that moment. Francis replied: “I would just keep working.” This answer is indicative of someone who understands that God’s kingdom is already present in the world and who works to spread it and so looks forward with a peaceful conscience to its growing until the day when, having subjected all things, including to death, to himself, Christ turns everything over to the Father and God becomes all in all (1 Cor 15:28).
In a recent tweet, Pope Francis pointed out: “Nobody can delude themselves by thinking, ‘I’m fine because I’m not doing anything wrong’. To be a follower of Jesus it is not enough not to do wrong, because there is good that we must do!” In a very real sense, every day is judgment day. This is why taking the opportunity to both think about your death and examine your conscience daily as well is a good, perhaps even necessary, spiritual practice, as is going to confession with some frequency. The Church’s Prayer after Communion for today implores God that our participation in this Eucharist “may bring us growth in charity” (The Roman Missal, English Translation According to the Third Typical Edition, Proper of Time, Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time). Lord, hear our prayer.
No comments:
Post a Comment