THE WORD
FIRST READING Dn 12: 1–3
“At that time there shall arise Michael,
the great prince,
guardian of your people;
It shall be a time unsurpassed in distress
since the nation began until that time.
At that time your people shall escape,
everyone who is found written in the book.
Many of those who sleep
in the dust of the earth shall awake;
Some to everlasting life,
others to reproach and everlasting disgrace.
But those with insight shall shine brightly
like the splendor of the firmament,
And those who lead the many to justice
shall be like the stars forever.
SECOND READING Heb 10: 11–14.18
Every priest stands daily at his ministry, offering frequently those same sacrifices that can never take away sins. But this one offered one sacrifice for sins, and took his seat forever at the right hand of God; now he waits until his enemies are made his footstool. For by one offering he has made perfect forever those who are being consecrated.
Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer offering for sin.
GOSPEL READING Mk 13: 24–32
Jesus said to his disciples, “But in those days after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. 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.
Learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branch becomes tender and sprouts leaves, you know that summer is near. In the same way, when you see these things happening, know that he is near, at the gates. Amen, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. But of that day or hour, no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”
IN OTHER WORDS
As I write this, there are about 160 predictions about the end of the world listed in the Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia. But, as stated in its introduction, it is an incomplete list. Which is true because there is no mention of at least one leader of a religious sect in the Philippines that I know of who has also predicted the end of the world. The list actually has entries that precede the time of Christ, which means that even before our Lord gave His teachings about the end of the world, there were already those who had a premonition that the world as we know it would end.
Sometimes we tend to focus on the frightening images that the Lord paints as He tells the apostles about the second coming of the Son of God. But destruction does not always mean devastation, death and suffering as its end. Sometimes, in order to build something new, we have to destroy the existing structures. When you see an old building being taken down, it usually means that a new and better facility is going to rise in its place. The old structure has outdone its usefulness and it is time for a new one.
The end of the world is not really an event that reduces all of creation again to zero. The end of the world does not even mean that we will all die. We shall all be changed, that much is true. But it is a change for the better because it would mean that sin would no longer have any hold on us. The reign of evil would end and we would be seeing the complete victory of love.
I, for one, would welcome the destruction of a worldview that places wealth and power above the welfare of the common good. There are a lot of poor people in this world today because of the greed of those who have the knowledge and power to influence its financial structures.
Let the coming of Christ be a source of hope for us. And let us really mean it when we say these words in the Lord’s prayer: “Thy kingdom come.”
- Chito Lorenzo, SVD (Japan)
The Word in other words 2015
An annual project of Logos Publications, The WORD in Other Words Bible Diary contains daily scripture readings and reflections written by priest, brothers, and sisters of the three congregations founded by St. Arnold Janssen (the SVD, SSpS, and SSpSAP). It hopes to serve as a daily companion to readers who continually seek the correlation of the Word of God and human experience.
