33^rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (C); November 13, 2022

Mal 3:19-20a.  Ps 998.  2 Thes 3:7-12.  Lk 21:5-19

Deacon Jim McFadden

         “And they shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, my own special possession…and I will have compassion on them”

 (Mal 3:17):  these words come to us from the last page of the last Old Testament prophet, Malachi.  They are directed to those who trust in the Lord, who don’t put their trust in world princes, but put their hope in Him alone.  They are the ones who see in God’s life the greatest and ultimate good: God is their Center; hence, they refuse to live only for themselves, for their tribal, parochial, and nationalistic interests.  For they are the ones who living the First Beatitude—Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours” (Lk 6:20).  While they are poor, they are, nonetheless, rich in God.  For them, “the sun of justice with its healing rays” (Mal 3:20b) will arise. 

            The prophet Malachi contrasts them with the proud and arrogant, who seek a secure life in their independent self-sufficiency and earthly possessions.  The last page of the Old Testament cuts to the quick by raising the challenging questions about the ultimate meaning of life: where or whom do I find my ultimate security?  Do I find it in the Lord Jesus or in the goods of the world of wealth, prestige, hedonistic pleasure, and dominative power.  Where is my life headed?  What does my heart long for?  Do I hunger for the Lord of Life or the ephemeral  things of life that cannot possibly satisfy?   

            Similar questions appear in today’s Gospel reading from Luke.  Jesus is in Jerusalem for the last and most important page in his earthly life: his death and resurrection, which will culminate his Mission.  He is in the precincts of the Temple “adorned with costly stones  and  votive offerings” (Lk 21:5).  People are speaking of the beauty of the Temple, the epicenter of Jewish worship, much the same way that people talk about St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.  Jesus takes the occasion to say that “The days will come when there shall not be left here one stone upon another” (v. 6).  He adds the sobering forecast that there will be no lack of conflicts, famine, convulsions on earth and in the heavens.

            How do we respond to such uncertainty, destruction, and chaos?  Jesus does not want to frightened us.  Indeed, he is always telling us not to  be afraid.  I believe what our Lord is telling us is that everything we now see will inevitably pass away.  What exists in space and time are penultimate things, not the ultimate ones: the temple (or St. Peter’s), not God; kingdoms, nation states, economic systems, human events, not humanity itself.  The things of this world, which often appear definitive, but they are not; the surest realities of this world will not last forever; soon or later they fall, they give out, to be replaced by something else.  That is the challenge of living the Gospel, because once you become a Kingdom person, you can never absolutize any system, least of all your own fabrication. 

            In response, people immediately ask two questions to Jesus: “When will this this be and what will be the sign?” (v. 7).  When and what: we are constantly driven by haste and curiosity because we want to remain in control.  But Jesus does not care for such curiosity because he is always calling us to live in the present: “Be still and know that I am God” (Ps 46:11).  That’s why he cautions us not to follow the alarmists who provide fuel of other’s fears and anxieties and who cast doubt on our future.  Fear paralyzes the heart and mind.  Yet how often do we allow ourselves to be seduced by a frantic desire to know everything right now, by the last sensational event or scandal, by lurid conspiracy theories, by the screaming of those who shout the loudest and angriest on social internet  platforms and cable news.  Sisters and brothers, if we get worked up about right now, we may forget what remains forever.

            As an antidote to haste, Jesus guides us towards endurance: “By your perseverance you will secure your lives” (v. 19).  Perseverance entails navigating through life  with our eyes fixed on not what fades away, but what endures.  Okay, what is it that endures; what has ultimate value in life; what riches don’t disappear?  The answer lies in the Great Commandment: the Lord and our neighbor.  These two never disappear.  They are the greatest goods; these are to be loved.  Everything else—the Earth, the heavens, St. Peter’s Basilica—will pass away; but we must never exclude God or others from our lives. 

            People of God, let us never forget that we are God’s “own special possession” and so is the person sitting next to your left and right.  Let us stay and abide with the Lord Jesus here and now and enthusiastically live the Great Commandment. Let us be lovers, delighters, and positive builders of the Kingdom of God right here and now!  Amen.