Good News Reflection
Tuesday of the 34th Week in Ordinary Time
November 24, 2009
Today's Memorial:
Saint Andrew Dung-Lac and his companions, martyrs
Today's Readings:
Daniel 2:31-45
Daniel 3:57, 58, 59, 60, 61
Luke 21:5-11
http://www.usccb.org/nab/112409.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/09_11_24.mp3
Living in the here and now
In today's Gospel passage, Jesus and the disciples discuss the Final Judgment Day. To the world, this will look like the ultimate disaster. But if we refuse to belong to the world, because we belong to the kingdom of God, for us Judgment Day will mean hearing God say, "Well done, good and faithful servant! You are now totally free from evil!"
The end of the world fascinates us. Hollywood movies about it are box office hits. Christian novels about it are top sellers. The predictions of Nostradamus are more popular than ever, and psychics who talk about it attract large followings. And when huge natural disasters hit, many of us try to make sense of them by declaring them to be chastisements against sinners and we start looking for signs that Jesus is coming soon to rescue us from the harm that's been caused by these sinners.
Why all this fascination with the end of the world? We should be more interested in what we can do for Christ in the present than in what he can do for us in the future.
It's in the here and now that we make a difference. Rather than guessing at the warnings of chastisement and the signs of impending doom, we should be spreading Christ's love so much here and now that we lay strong foundations for a better future.
When the disciples asked for clues about the timing of the disaster that Jesus described, he warned them to be careful lest they fall prey to deceptions. He knew that focusing on the future can easily causes misinterpretations and mistaken predictions.
Jesus wasn't being a soothsayer when he warned that the holy temple would get torn down. He was talking about the here and now of his interaction with the disciples: The Messiah had come and therefore the stone temple was no longer needed.
His words can also apply to our own here and now: Our bodies, which are temples of the Holy Spirit, will die and decay, but our Messiah has come. If we follow him, we'll reach heaven. Our flesh and blood temples cannot save us; we need the Messiah. Living in him and through him today will secure our future in the kingdom of God, even if the Second Coming of Christ does not occur in our lifetimes.
In the meantime, we should not fear wars and other human disasters, nor earthquakes and other natural disasters. This is true whether it's terrorist attacks or the personal earthquake of a loved one's death. When plagues of hardships infect our lives, or when famines make us hungry for whatever we lack, we're comforted by remembering that this is normal for this world and we do not belong to this world – we take action to help make the world a better place, but we do not live in fear nor do we wait for Jesus to do the work without us.
Even when it seems like our problems will bring a permanent end to what had been good for us, the fearful omens should not dismay us. Our Messiah is with us! So keep your eyes on Jesus, here and now.
© 2009 by Terry A. Modica
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