“The time is near at hand.”

November 13, 2022.
Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time – C.

Readings: Mal 3:19-20a; Ps 98:5-6, 7-8, 9; 2 Thes 3:7-12; Lk21:5-19.

“All that you see here - the days will come when there will not be left a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down.” Lk 21:6

A Puritan proverb says: “Idle hands are the devil’s workshop.” And a Russian proverb adds: “However much would the string wind, the end will be reached anyway.”

We are today one week before the end of the liturgical year, the year of the Church. Next Sunday, with the solemnity of Christ the King, we will officially close the liturgical year C and open the year A with the Advent Season. It is a beautiful circle of time reminding us that an end opens to a new beginning and a beginning leads towards an end. It is also a circle of seasons that warns us about the circle of life. Life is a succession of seasons and times. We should, therefore, live each season and time with great awareness and consciousness about our inevitable end that will one day come.

Far from being a proclamation of the "End of the World", the readings speak of the coming of time. It is the time when good will defeat evil, life will overthrow death, and light will eclipse darkness. It is the coming of the time of righteousness where sin will be forever defeated. It is about the coming of the time of the Lord. This coming sounds also an alarm for us to work in today's world and in our today's situation in order to make a way for the Lord. The Kingdom of God will come, this is our faith and our prayer when we say the Our Father. This coming does not mean our disconnection or abandonment our This earth. The Gospel of Christ calls not for idleness or laziness, but for a more active life in spiritual as well as human, social, and economic aspects.

The Church says: "Far from diminishing our concern to develop this earth, the expectancy of a new earth should spur us on, for it is here that the body of a new human family grows, foreshadowing in some way the age which is to come. That is why, although we must be careful to distinguish earthly progress clearly from the increase of the kingdom of Christ, such progress is of vital concern to the kingdom of God, insofar as it can contribute to the better ordering of human society." GS 39 § 2.

The first reading and the Gospel echo and convey a message: "The day is coming now." It is not for a far and uncertain future. There is no doubt, the day of the Lord is coming. Many are the signs that forecast it. But which coming are we talking about? Is it the end of the world? The answer is immediate: No. It is about the day of the end of sin, injustice, corruption, and all kinds of evils. It is about the day of restoration and instauration of the new earth. Malachi says: "the sun of righteousness will shine out with healing in its rays."

In the Gospel, the Lord echoes this coming of the days. He speaks of the destruction of the old Jerusalem and the instauration of the new one. "All these things you are staring at now – the time will come when not a single stone will be left on another: everything will be destroyed."

Like the disciples, we are all tempted to put the same question: "when will this happen, then, and what sign will there be that this is about to take place?" The end will certainly come. Things that surround us today, and even our life will pass. Prophecies of the end are not meant to frighten us, but rather give as a great reason to live the best way possible this present situation in which we are. For, if we live well our today, we will not be afraid of what could happen tomorrow. We will rather look forward to the future with optimism, positivity, love, faith, and great hope.

To the question of the Apostles, the Lord answered: "Take care not to be deceived..." The most important thing is not about knowing when will the end come. It is about living every single day as the day of the coming of the Lord, and so the day of restoration and renewal. If we focus only on signs and events announcing the end, we will fall into deception. Many are they who day after day predict the end of the world. Looking at the natural calamities, pandemics, economic crises, wars, and even now with the imminence of the Third World War due to the Russia-Ukraine War or NATO-BRICS silent war, the social crises, and many other things, the temptation is great to say the end is for tomorrow and so fall in deception and hopelessness. And the Lord goes on to add: "when you hear of wars and revolutions, do not be frightened, for this is something that must happen but the end is not so soon..." As Christians, what is asked of us are firmness of faith and endurance in front of trials and tribulations. Hardships will certainly come. Tribulations, hatred, and persecution will be there. But the Lord will never forsake his owns nor give us as prey to adversities. In all things, we are to stand erect, and hold our heads high, because our liberation is near at hand.

The coming of the Lord must not deride us from our earthly obligations. Thus St. Paul can make it a stern warning after hearing of the idleness of some Thessalonians: "do not let anyone have any food if he refuses to do any work." And the Apostle goes on to add: "In the Lord Jesus Christ, we order and call on people of this kind to go on quietly working and earning the food that they eat." The Christian life is not a life of dependence or idleness. Lazy Christians are an insult to the name of Christ, the name they bear. Going back to our catechism, it appears clear that laziness figures among what the Church names Capital or Mortal (deadly) Sins. If you live in laziness (sloth) there is no hope of newness for you. For, the dictum says, the future belongs to those who rise up early. If you build friendship with your bed, on that bed will find you the day that is coming.