Just remember that far beneath the winter snow lies a seed planted in our hearts that in the spring becomes the rose of God's love..

Thirty Third Sunday in OT  C   2019

As we head toward the end of the liturgical year, the evangelist Luke uses apocalyptic language to describe the end of the world.  We are confronted with the end of our own life and the judgement of God.  At first glance, today’s Gospel is not a feel-good Gospel of the merciful love of Jesus.

It leaves us ill at ease and puzzled about the end of the world.  The evangelist says: “Nation will fight against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.   There will be great earthquakes and plagues and famines here and there; there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven.”

At the time of Jesus, the Jerusalem Temple was an architectural masterpiece admired by Jews and Gentiles alike.  Imagine the shock effect of hearing Jesus declare that this grand temple is headed for total destruction.  It will end up as nothing more than rubble.

We would be alarmed if these words were spoken about St Joseph’s Church.  We have sacrificed much to build this Church – this magnificent organ, our baptismal font, our beautiful stained-glass windows, our beautiful mosaic.  We are attached to it.

The people who were present with Jesus were attached to their temple and all of its magnificence.  But Jesus admonished them not to be too attached to this external structure.

During times of adversity, Jesus was directing his disciples to focus on a more important Temple – the Temple of the Spirit.  Temples of the Spirit are being built for eternity.  Through baptism we become incorporated into Christ and become temples of the Holy Spirit.

We have within us the wellspring of eternal life; we have within us the spirit of Christ Jesus.  We are the Temples of the Holy Spirit.  We reverence the tabernacle in which the Eucharistic Christ is present.  We are to reverence the tabernacle of our own souls in which God dwells.  This presence within us will live beyond all the challenges of life and even beyond the death of our earthly life.

Yes, there will be adversity in life – struggles and suffering.  Some of this adversity will be the result of the forces of nature – earthquakes, fires, and flood.  Some adversity will be caused by brokenness in relationships.  Some setbacks will be caused by ourselves when our inner demons get the best of us.

There are plenty of dark clouds in the life of the Church and there are plenty of dark clouds in our country as we are in the midst of an impeachment inquiry.

But the meaning of the scriptural apocalyptic language is a story of hope in the midst of adversity.  In a word, God goes with us.  God is always a merciful, forgiving God -- not a hair on your head will be lost.  The fact that we face sometimes more than our share of issues to be dealt with that leave us vulnerable does not contradict our deep faith in a merciful, forgiving God.  Please God we can continue to trust even when we feel very, very vulnerable.

The message of the crucified Christ which is in the center of our sanctuary and is at the center of our faith life is a story of hope in the midst of the challenges of life.  The most significant challenge we face as the disciples of Jesus is to trust that there is a way forward to the struggles we face.  In fact, the setbacks of life can and hopefully do lead us to trust more fully in God’s promise that the cross is our pathway to sharing more fully in the risen life of Jesus.

Yes, today’s scriptures at the end of our liturgical year invite us to consider our own mortality – what happens when we die; are we prepared to face God’s judgement?  Somehow, some way, we have to deal with the truth that we are going to die.  For those of us in the second half of life, this reality of our own death is more on our radar screen.

One of the deep truths of our Christian faith is that only when we do not fear death can we truly begin to live.  We live life with the end in mind.  We live with the faith that in dying we are born to eternal life.

How do we prepare for the final judgment of God when our time on earth comes to an end?   We do this best when we recognize the inbreaking of God in our daily life.  Our first encounter with God is not at our death; rather God seeks to encounter us this day.  How we deal with the little deaths of life is how we prepare to encounter the loving mercy of God ultimately.  The little deaths of life are all the setbacks, the disappointments, the times we have been misunderstood and treated unfairly.

God’s judgment of us will not be feared if we can trust in God’s merciful and forgiving love that is given to us each and every day of our life.  God never takes a vacation in his love for us.  Even though there are situations in life that leave us fearful and vulnerable, may we still hope and trust in the merciful love of Jesus.

God even uses Mother Nature to remind us of the story of hope in the midst of adversity.   This time of year is a time of dying, but this reality doesn’t have to be terrifying.  As the leaves fall from the trees and have died, as the days grow shorter and the hours of darkness increase, we are very much aware of the change of seasons and the cycle of life.  But as was inscribed in the haunting song of Bette Midler’s THE ROSE:  “Just remember that far beneath the winter snow lies the seed that in the spring becomes the rose.

So too, just remember beneath the adversity we face in the Church and in the world, far beneath the winter snow there lies a seed planted in our hearts that in the spring becomes the rose of God’s love.

Have a blessed day.