And then they will see 'the Son of Man coming in the clouds' with great power and glory, and then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the end of the earth to the end of the sky (Mk 13:24-27)."
A reflection from Father Tudgay for the Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time.
When things don’t go well or even ‘our way’, we tend to catastrophize and say something like “This is the end of the world!”. The feeling of implosion that sets in when something appears to be going poorly or the proliferation of chaos in our lives or in our world can certainly be disorienting. Where do we look in these moments? Will the worst-imagined scenario come to pass? How will I preserve my values, ideals, and passions? What will happen to those I love or care about? A lot to think about and a lot to worry about!
But, we’re Christians…
The Gospel Passage is Jesus’ insistence to “read the tealeaves” of our time and to use the gift of wisdom that we have, to understand what is happening around us, but not to lose hope in the midst of chaos or challenges. This is ironic, because Jesus urges this consideration in the context of a rather apocalyptic prediction of the “end times”, acknowledging that creation, itself, will come to an end. These words are echoed as Jesus makes his way to Jerusalem, to take on the Cross and confront sin and establish his victory over it. This Gospel passage is one of the last that we will hear this liturgical year, as we move toward the celebration of the Solemnity of Christ the King next Sunday. There is an insight here that we can draw from this Gospel passage that is relevant for our lives today: Jesus does not deny that there will be chaos, heartache, confusion, and just general messiness. He also affirms that you and I, as human persons, have the capacity to open our eyes and our minds to see what is actually taking place.
And, we’re Christians…
Using the eyes of our mind to understand what’s happening around us critical for a salient engagement of the world all the while being grounded in Christian Hope! Here’s the thing… Hope as a theological virtue, doesn’t mean that we’re somehow disconnected from reality. Quite the opposite. Hope is the virtue that is communicated through the entirety of the Gospel passage this weekend. In the midst of the tribulations that are all but guaranteed to come our way, we belong to Jesus Christ. There is a permanence to the Word of God alive in us, received through Baptism, and continually refining us through our participation in the sacramental life of the Catholic Church. Our belief in Jesus Christ alive in us provides the ultimate standard against which we engage the world around us, including the challenges and the tragedies. In the midst of these moments, we have confidence that, first, things may not always become as bad as we anticipate them to be and, two, even if they do, we belong to Christ. Period. Things don’t always go our way, thankfully, because Jesus Christ has the final say on our lives and on all human existence.
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