The 33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year C
A couple of days after the mass shooting on November 7, 2018, in Thousand Oaks, California, at the Borderline Bar and Grill, when I was still working at St. Mary Magdalene’s parish in Camarillo, a student from our grade school after our school Mass asked me, Father, is the world coming to an end? I was dumbfounded and baffled that I asked her, what made you think so or ask such question? She responded, ‘I think the world is coming to an end, since God is punishing us and has abandoned the world because of our sins, that is why all these horrible things are happening to us and happening around us. First, we had the heavy floods in the Ventura area that destroyed people’s houses and killed many people. This was followed immediately by the mass shooting at the Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks; then immediately after that, the fires destroyed many properties around us in the Ventura County area that we were asked to evacuate from our homes. Father Fidelis, I am worried and scared!’ I was dumbfounded and baffled because this came from a very little child. I paused for a moment then I responded saying, ‘no, I do not think the world is coming to an end, and no, God is not punishing us, but if that was the case, then, we all need to change our lives and work harder in our spiritual lives to be ready to go to heaven if the world was coming to an end.’
My dear friends, this little girl’s thoughts seems to be in our minds today as we can see what is going on in our country and in our world today. There is so much hate, violence, discrimination, wars, racism, sexism, suffering, poverty, prejudice, and persecution in our world today, that makes us think that the world is coming to an end or that God is punishing us for our sins. Today’s first reading and the gospel reading all sound very eschatological, that is, sound like the end times of humankind like the question of the little girl to me. In our first reading from the book of Prophet Malachi (Mal. 3:19-20a), Prophet Malachi tells us of the destiny of the proud and evildoers on the judgement day. He also reminds us that no matter what happens, those who fear the name of God and live in His ways, will surely be saved as the Sun of justice will arise with its healing rays to protect and heal them. Then in our gospel reading from gospel of Luke (Lk. 21:5-19), Jesus gives us concrete examples of events and things that will happen on the last day, but reminds us that "by our perseverance, we will secure your lives." So how are you preparing yourself for the judgement day?
Jesus is the gospel reading gives us the best way to prepare ourselves for the judgement day or the end times as He states that, “by your perseverance you will secure your lives.” Are we persevering in our spiritual lives and in our relationship with God? Are we working hard everyday to be good and faithful disciples of Christ? How are we living out our faith in God today? Are we truly and sincerely answering our call to discipleship by striving daily to come closer to God, by hearing His voice calling us, by answering His call, by accepting His word and by living out His gospel? Are we working hard or are we hardly working in our spiritual lives to have a better relationship with God?
My brothers and sisters, it is time to start preparing ourselves for the kingdom of heaven today because we do not know when our lives here would end or when the judgement day will come. So let us be encouraged by Jesus’s words to us in today’s gospel reading that ‘by our perseverance, we will secure our lives,’ and let us continue to answer His call to be His true disciples by accepting His gospel and by living it out in our world today. Amen!
