Preparing for Tomorrow as a People of Faith, Love and Hope
Over the years one of the things that comes and goes is a fascination with the last days, or end times. People up and down the ages have wondered when Christ may return. In the early Church, many thought Christ would return soon; in the Middle Ages, with the Black Plague, and numerous wars many thought the same; and in recent times, I remember in the 90s as the millennium approached so many were thinking there was something unique about the year 2000 there were the popular “Left Behind” books about the last days, and a lot of concern over the Y2K bug that was supposed to make all the computers go crazy. I remember there was even a webcam set up in Jerusalem where people thought Jesus might return to so you could watch it online.
Needless to say, Jesus tells us we do not know the day or the hour when things will end. It could very well be soon, or it could be millions of years from now.
Our readings as we near the end of the Liturgical Year have a focus in part on the end times and our mortality. In this week’s Gospel, Jesus speaks of the sun and moon being darkened and the stars falling from the sky and the Son of Man returning. However he does not give a specific date. But he does say His words will not pass away.
He teaches us so much, but at the heart is what we heard a couple of weeks back, to love God with our whole heart, mind and soul and to love our neighbor as yourself. The point is that we aren’t to sit around preoccupied with the end times, but rather are to focus on the here and now and to live our lives as a people of hope in our world.
The question for us is how do we be a people of hope who live in this world and make it a better place?
We do this by living a life in love, make ourselves vulnerable and to take chances. You can go to all the retreats you want, come to Mass every Sunday, and pray every night, but ultimately if you aren’t living out what you are given we are burying what God has given us. All of us are called to love both ourselves and one another. C.S. Lewis once wrote “To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully around with hobbies and little luxuries, avoid all entanglements, lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket – safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable….the only place outside haven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is hell.”
As I’ve preached on before, love can be a difficult thing for a lot of us, because you may have been hurt by that word deeply by someone who said they loved you but never backed up that word by actions. Or maybe you have used that word in the wrong way to someone you care about, and feel bad about doing so. Maybe you are tempted to play it safe, but if you keep your faith bottled up, what good will it do the world? In the halls of high school, in the cubicle next to you at work, and even in our families are people who are hurting, and who desperately need to see the light of Christ. We need to be that light in the here and now. By building relationships with them, by getting to know them, or by even inviting them to come to Church with you, you can make a difference in their lives. It doesn’t mean that you walk up to them and say “do you want to know about Jesus,” but it means through the testament of your lives you help them to come to know Him. And beyond building relationships, you can live out your faith in service, as a number of you have done through being involved in our parish by volunteering, serving and using what you’ve given to make Saint Joseph’s shine.
It also includes the daily simple things we do with great love; the meals we make; the time given to kids and grandkids; the gift of a conversation, a prayer with someone. So many of these little actions reveal Jesus to one another.
Every day we run the race as Saint Paul would say. So many people do such great things for people, but we have to remember that even if we are using what God has given us, that doesn’t mean that you ever reach the finish line this side of heaven. Every day of our lives, we need to put before ourselves the question of what we can do to help one another, because people’s needs never fade. Neither should our love for them. You very well may have your initial efforts not be successful, or you may set out to do some good and have it blow up in your face. That happens to everyone, but when it does, we apologize, we pick ourselves up, and we go out and try to do things better. God doesn’t mind screw-ups; look at who He chose to follow Him. The wicked servant didn’t screw up though, because he didn’t even try.
In our world much like this time of year there can be a lot of gloom and darkness. Christ though did something about it – through His birth, death and resurrection, and through how He lived He has redeemed us. He will come again. But He also gives us a job to do – not to wait around, but to live out our lives as beacons of hope in a world that is at times dark. We hope to get to heaven, yes, but people also need to see heaven through how you and me live. May we prepare for that day when we stand before the Lord by every day living out the words “thy Kingdom Come” and helping people to see God in their lives by being His face, hands and voice in our world – a world God came to redeem, not destroy. My fellow Christians, we have a job to do – which isn’t to predict the Second Coming or stare at the sky, but to use the tools God has given us. So let’s resist the urge to complain about the way things are, or that things used to be better once upon a time, and get to work preparing for our day when we stand before God by working with the good Lord to change this world for the better.
Have a blessed week! ~Fr. Paul
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November 2024