November 14, 2010 – 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Mal 4:1-2 Ps. 98 2 Thes 3:7-12 Lk 21: 5-19

As I read this morning’s liturgical readings, I was reminded of a song that I used to hear on the radio. The lines went like this: “Do you know where you’re going to? Do you like the things that life is showing you? Where are you going to? Do you know?” We might ask ourselves the same question after considering the readings for today’s liturgy.

The prophet Malachi spells out clearly what our future will be. If you are good, you will be healed from life’s pains in the last days. Further, he tells us, that we will leap like a calf released from its stall. But if you are evil, then your life will be reduced in fire, you’ll be burned like stubble so that there is neither branch nor root. The lives of the good are pictured as leaping into freedom, in full health and vigor while the evil are portrayed as something less than human.

In our gospel passage, Jesus is pictured predicting the fall of the Temple in Jerusalem. He tells his followers not to be fooled by appearances. Jesus tells us that there will be many signs before the end but we should not worry about it nor think the end is near simply because there are earthquakes and wars. He even says that we may suffer for our faith. Even so, Jesus tells us, let the Spirit lead you and speak in you. And St. Paul tells the early Christians, that even living in the end days does not exempt them from working for a living. We are not to be idle. Rather, we should work quietly, trusting in Jesus and God’s plan for us, giving good example to all who witness our faith. Taken together, all of the readings point to our individual deaths and to the end of human history. In every case, whether from Malachi or Jesus or St. Paul, we are told that by faithful lives now we will gain everlasting life.

As we age, it is natural that we begin to consider our own deaths. We see in nature during this autumn season, that even the trees, flowers and grass follow the rhythm of birth, maturity and death. But death is not the end of life. No, the trees, flowers and grass will return with vigor in the spring. How good God is to give us such an obvious lesson in nature! The trees around us turn brilliant colors of red, orange and gold right before their “death” in winter. If we have the eyes to see the lesson then we can understand that lives lived in genuine faith, loving each other and loving our planet, taking care of the needs of others makes us richer, fuller people—people who become fully human. And, hopefully, as we age, we become more and more faithful in our witness to the love of God in our lives. We become shining examples of what love and faithfulness are.

When we understand that lives of faith lived out in deeds of love and generosity lead to the fullness of life, then we know “where you’re going to.” We do not give into worry or doubt that God intends us to “gain our souls,” which is to say, become fully human, fully loving, fully alive. Let us learn from nature what the prophets and evangelists want us to see: that life lived in love and service to the needs of others leads to the fullness of life beyond the grave. In eternity we will finally know what it means to be free and to be fully human without the limitations that we experience now. To arrive to the fullness of life, though, we are told clearly that we must spend our lives in faith and trust in God’s message, by lives of loving service. Let us all recommit ourselves today to living in love and service to all creatures and everyone so that we may leap into the fullness of life in eternity.