Search
-
Dear Parish Family,
Can ‘end times’ be good times?
There is a big hype in the media today about the “end of the world.” Scientists speak of it as the end of the planet earth. They point out that objects in space, bigger than a mountain, may stray from their orbits and strike the earth with a force more powerful than that generated by nuclear weapons. The impact will greatly disturb the earth’s ecosystems and cause the death of species, including human beings. If the giant projectiles miss, the cosmos has other ways of crushing or annihilating the planet. But scientists say that none of these will take place earlier than a billion years from now. There is no reason, you might say, to start worrying this for a minute. The Liturgical Year that is ending wants us to focus our attention on the ‘end times’ in a different way. All of us are waiting for the second coming of Jesus. This will be the day of His return. We recite the Creed at Mass and proclaim that Jesus “will come again to judge the living and the dead.” The New Testament writers used the Greek word Parousia which means the arrival and presence of a king, to describe this second coming of Jesus. When this day comes, Jesus will be acknowledged as Lord with the dead rising and all human beings judged in the presence of the glorified Christ, our King. When is he coming? Nobody knows. We only must wait. But wait patiently and meaningfully.
Today’s readings give us the assurance that our God will be with us all the days of our lives and that we will have the ongoing presence of the Holy Spirit in our midst guiding, protecting, and strengthening us despite our necessary human uncertainty concerning the end time when “Christ will come again in glory …” Next Sunday is the Thirty-fourth and last Sunday in our liturgical year when we celebrate the Feast of Christ the King, and the following Sunday marks the beginning of the Advent season with a new Liturgical Cycle – C – for our Sunday Readings for the 2021-2022 Liturgical Year. The readings invite us to focus our attention on the threefold coming of Jesus: 1) His first coming according to the flesh, as Redeemer. 2) His second coming, either at our death, or at the end of time and the world, which will bring our salvation to completion. 3) His coming into our lives each time we step forward in genuine Christian living which will prepare us for His final coming at the End of the world of time and space and the Final Judgment.
Mark’s Gospel, written some 40 years after Jesus’ death, is the simplest, shortest, and oldest of the four Gospels. This week’s Gospel text is taken from the thirteenth chapter of Mark, which, together with Matthew 24 and Luke 21, is often called the “Little Apocalypse.” Apocalypse literally means unveiling. The whole of Mark’s thirteenth chapter is full of apocalyptic imagery and predictions borrowed from the Old Testament writings especially of Daniel, Joel and Isaiah. Jesus skillfully weaves all these various strands into one powerful vision. The Gospel of Mark was written in the year 69 AD, just one year before the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, at a time when the Romans were suppressing Jewish protests and persecuting Christians. Many Christians began wondering why Jesus did not return as He had promised. Some even wondered whether he had really been the promised Messiah. Mark in the 13th Chapter offered hope to a persecuted community by reminding the people of Jesus’ promise that wars, natural disasters, and betrayal by family members would be overcome when the Son of Man returned to earth to gather in His loved ones.
The application of image of the fig tree to the end of the world suggests that the end of the world will mean good (fruitful) times, for Jesus’ disciples, because their God will be bringing things to a triumphant end, and His Truth, Love, and Justice will prevail forever. Instead of worrying about the “endtime” events, we are asked to live every day of our lives in loving God in Himself and as living in others through our committed service.
With God’s blessings,
Fr Tom Kunnel C.O.