Hi everyone here’s my homily for THIRTY THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – November 18, 2012. The readings for today can be found at https://usccb.org/bible/readings/111812.cfm . Thanks as always for reading, sharing and your feedback – Fr. Jim
HOMILY
I don’t know about you, but hearing this Gospel, post-Hurricane Sandy – too soon. The memory of those crazy winds, watching transformers falling and exploding plunging millions of us into darkness and cold; seeing these mighty, century old trees being upended seemingly with little effort and crushing homes, buildings. The far worse devastation that people down the shore and in parts of New York have experienced. All of those vivid, fresh memories – well it’s still too fresh to hear Jesus speaking about a “day of tribulation” where “the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall from the sky” and even “the heavens will be shaken.” It’s upsetting for us to hear Jesus talking about how the world is going to end, and can be very easy for us to become fearful that we’re living in the end times that Jesus is prophesying about.
To be honest, that’s not unusual – people of every generation, whenever they face some horrific tragedy of epic proportions like a massive earthquake, a sudden tornado, or some other natural disaster begins to look at those things as evidence of “the end time.” I don’t say that to dismiss the possibility that we could in fact be living in the “end times” – I have no idea. Jesus is pretty clear that no one knows “the day or the hour.” And reading that, hearing that, saying that at this time, after all we’ve gone through or are still enduring can sound somewhat cruel. Because the truth is whether it’s Hurricane Sandy, or the storms and days of tribulation that we experience in our own lives that don’t garner the attention of the entire world – A loved one is sick, a family member loses their job, someone we’re very close to has died – or you’re struggling -struggling with some addiction; struggling with classes, struggling with your friends or roommates – and feel overwhelmed, and on top of that feeling guilty because you know other people are dealing with far worse things, but your difficult things are real and important and can make you feel like your own world is ending as well. The last thing anyone wants to hear from Jesus while suffering is a dire prophecy…
We want words of Hope. But that’s a word that’s been so mis-used (among many in this culture) that it’s important to distinguish what Hope is … A priest named Fr. William O’Malley, who’s been a High School English Teacher, written books and I think is in his 80’s by this point– once explained it like this. He said, “I’ve learned the big difference between optimism and hope. Optimism is ‘Annie’ [that’s the little orphan with the curly red hair] belting out, ‘The sun’ll come out tomorrow! Bet yer bottom dollar there’ll be sun.’ Good luck, kid. The forecast says rain for the rest of the week. Hope’s different. Hope says, ‘Okay, so it’s gonna rain. We’ll get the job done anyway.’ Hope says, ‘It’s the last inning, and we’re down by three, but let’s go out swinging!’ Unlike optimism, hope knows that quite often nice guys do finish last, but that it’s a helluva lot better to be a nice guy than to be first.”
In the midst of those struggles, we want optimistic words. We want someone to tell us it’s going to be alright. Everything’s going to be fine. We want things to go back to the way they were. ‘The sun will come out, tomorrow.’ And if it doesn’t? Then what? If things don’t turn out the way we want them to, we don’t have to give into pessimism. But we do need to be honest.
Which is why today’s Gospel is so important for us to read and hear and reflect on because Jesus is honest; He doesn’t sugarcoat this truth. Yes, there will be tribulation and darkness – not just at the end of the world, but probably through many moments of our lives. Things might get so terrible that we feel things will ‘never be the same.’ But – wait for it – here are the words of hope from tonight’s Gospel – listen to them once again:
Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.
If we’re looking for something optimistic, words that will make us feel better, or a quick fix, then those words will pass away. Because Jesus isn’t promising a quick fix. He’s not promising to make things the way they were before, or the way we would like them to be in the future. His words probably are not going to instantly restore power, fix homes, they are not going to get you a job tomorrow morning, immediately cure your illness or miraculously pull up your GPA.
The point is, if that’s all we’re looking for – a quick fix, an increase of pleasure and a decrease in pain – we will, ultimately, be disappointed in life – disappointed not just by Jesus, but by the latest self-help guru or any who market the ‘power of positive thinking’ as a religion, or tell us the Gospel is all about ‘prosperity’ (‘pie in the sky when you die, and steak on the plate while you wait’).
The Gospel, Jesus – the Word of God (so His words aren’t just Words – He IS the Word, so His words are as real as He is real) – is all about Hope… But we can only experience that Hope if we recognize God’s presence and activity in our lives. How He loved us into existence. How He has sustained us, protected us, provided for us even when we’ve fallen or turned our back on Him… How He continues to call out to us, to remind us of His eternal love for humanity despite the terrible things that happen because of man’s inhumanity to man. Yes, in the reality of the struggles we face, where we may be discouraged, or let down by others, Jesus Christ promises us – even though the road ahead of us may be difficult, will be difficult – that He will never leave us, and that His words of hope will never pass away.
So no matter what natural disaster, what whirlwind, what ‘world’ of ours ‘ends’ – now, or at some time in our futures – let us never forget what comes next, Who comes next – let’s keep in mind, when hearing these ‘end times’ readings, Who it is that ultimately comes in glory, Who it is that heals our world and heals our hearts – Jesus Christ. Let’s let His Second Coming into our lives start right now.
