Two Sundays ago, we got vivid, apocalyptic imagery in the readings.
Today’s gospel brings us more. A lot more: signs in the sun, the moon,
and the stars, roaring seas, nations in deep dismay, the very powers of
heaven shaken, and people dying of fright in anticipation of what is
coming upon the world.
I had
an opportunity two Sundays ago to comment on the way Mark presented the
Last Days in his gospel. We begin a new liturgical year today with
gospel readings from Luke but I have to say that I don’t find Luke’s
version to be all that different. So maybe you won’t be surprised if I
tell you that I’m kind of out of ideas when it comes to gospel readings
about the end times!
So,
rather than repeat myself, I’m going to quote rather liberally from a
reflection on today’s gospel that appeared in the wonderful daily
missal, Give Us This Day. It’s written by a woman who is both wife and
mother as well as a professor of chemistry and an adjunct scholar at the
Vatican Observatory. Not bad credentials! These are her words:
“Once,
in a midst of a raging storm, I stood on a promontory overlooking the
strait through which Lake Huron pours into Georgian Bay. The water below
me heaved like a living thing, a gray, writhing serpent hissing and
spitting foam. The rain poured down, the wind ripped my voice away. I
was stunned at the power that swirled around me that in an instant could
have swept me away. Terrified, I bolted back to safety.
She
continues: “Today’s gospel, with its description of roaring seas and
shifting stars, makes me wonder if I have courage enough to pray for the
Kingdom to come. Morning and night, as I pray the Lord’s Prayer, the
words rise blithely enough to my lips – ‘thy kingdom come’ – but am I
willing to face the terrifying signs and howling waves that will herald
the kingdom’s coming?
“Yet
here I stand at the edge of Advent praying for the resolve to run forth
into the wind and raging waves, praying for the grace to seek out
Christ…as the Son of Man coming clothed in power and glory, but also
coming in lowly signs completely devoid of power and glory. ‘Thy kingdom
come’ is a reckless prayer, one that insists that I lift my eyes from my
own cares and anxieties. It is a prayer that looks to the far distant
horizon of the Second Coming, yes, but which also demands that I wade
into the churning seas of the present day to stand as a beacon of
justice for people battered by oppression, to reach out with mercy to
those struggling to keep their heads above troubled, swirling waters. It
is a call not to safety, but to shake up the world until that day when
God’s kingdom does at last come. In glory!” End of quote.
“To
shake up the world.” That’s a bold thought and, to use the words of that
powerful reflection, it’s a reckless thought, but it’s a good way of
describing what we sign up for every time we pray the Lord’s Prayer,
every time we pray those seemingly innocuous and all-too-familiar words,
“Thy Kingdom come.” And, as the writer suggested, to pray for the coming
of God’s kingdom is not just to pray about the distant future. The
coming of God’s kingdom, God’s reign or rule, began powerfully at a
moment in time with the preaching and ministry of Jesus, and it
continues even today when we embrace the gospel of Jesus and live it: it
continues with our efforts to be healers like Jesus and to be advocates
for justice; and it continues with our compassionate care for the poor
and the marginalized – those who (again in the words of that little
reflection) struggle to keep their heads above troubled, swirling
waters. And they are all around us, aren’t they!
There’s a delightful little book called Children’s Letters to God that I
pick up once-in-a-while for a smile. One of the letters came to mind as
I reflected on today’s scriptures. It’s written by a little girl who, I
guess you could say, is long on urgency if a bit short on grammar. Her
letter goes like this: “Dear God, are you real? Some people don’t not
believe it. If you are, you’d better do something quick!”
Well,
my friends, God is real, and God is doing something quick even if it may
seem to be taking a long time. This very minute, God is, in fact, using
the likes of you and me to answer the prayer, “thy kingdom come” - to
bring about the reign of God which even now is coming about – in our
present efforts and energies, yes - but which will be fully realized at
a time known only to God, that day when, in the words of today’s gospel,
we will “stand secure before the Son of Man.”
Our
sharing now in the Eucharistic meal is a blessed foretaste of that day,
a promise of the full-flowering of the kingdom whose coming we pray for
so often and so earnestly, the kingdom of holiness and grace, of
justice, love, and peace, the kingdom that will enfold us all, the
kingdom where God will be all in all!
Father Michael G. Ryan
|
|
