In today's first reading, the prophet Daniel announces the enormous upheavals that will precede the second coming of Christ, "it will be difficult times such as there have not been since there have been nations until now.". Jesus in the Gospel tells us more: "after that great distress, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its radiance, the stars will fall from the sky, the stars will totter."When will this happen? Not even Jesus knows, he says. Presumably he speaks here according to his human nature, because as God he would know.
The Church gives us this terrifying vision of the end times so that we are not caught off guard. "Then your people shall be saved: all those who are found written in the book". This is the book of judgment that we see in the book of Revelation (Rev 20:12-15). It is a metaphor: it is not a literal book, but God keeps a record of our good and bad deeds. Our names will be in the book of life if we have sought true life, not death. Good deeds lead to life, bad deeds lead to death.
We probably won't be there to see the second coming of Christ. Please God we will see it from heaven and not find out, terrified, in hell. But in a sense the end times is the "now" of times. There are always world upheavals, nations at war with each other, cosmic disasters. If we seek the right foundations now, we will stand firm now, and when Jesus returns, we will rejoice - on earth or in heaven - at his coming.
We have to learn from these readings where to put our feet. No sensible person puts his feet on shifting sand or watery mud. Rather, he puts his feet on solid rock. Nothing on earth or in the solar system will stand firm at the end of time. All created things will fade away and disappear. "Heaven and earth shall pass away."Jesus tells us, "but my words shall not pass."Why put our hopes in things that will pass?
Here Jesus tells us what we must hold on to: his words, his teaching, which comes to us in the Church, in Scripture and in our conscience. We must embrace it and share it with others. And so the first reading gives us another piece of advice to ensure that we are among those who are raised to "eternal life": to be wise ourselves and to instruct others in holiness. "The wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who taught many righteousness, like the stars, for all eternity.".
Homily on the readings of the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)
Priest Luis Herrera Campo offers his nanomiliaA short one-minute reflection for these Sunday readings.
