The End Times

The 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today’s Readings: [Click here]

As I was driving back home on the Interstate from Ohio the other day, I spotted a cluster of flashing lights in the distance in the eastbound lanes. When I came up to the scene, there were all kinds of emergency vehicles: police cars, fire trucks, EMS vans. And then I saw the remains of a horrific accident. A car was lying upside down, completely charred and still smoldering. Nearby, there was a pile of burnt remains that I couldn’t begin to identify. This was one of those gruesome sights that make your stomach lurch. My immediate reaction was to start offering up prayers to Jesus and Mary for the poor souls involved.

When I got home, I checked the Indianapolis Star website, and there was a report of the accident. A roofing truck somehow flipped over and burst into flames. Incredibly, the driver and his companion managed to crawl to safety. No one was injured—although traffic was at a standstill for several miles.

Scenes like these have a way of reminding us about how fragile life is—especially when you’re hurtling down the highway at 70 or 80 miles an hour in a small, metal box on wheels. We don’t think about it too much, because it’s not awfully pleasant to face our own mortality—but Jesus does prod us from time to time to focus our brains and hearts on the stuff that matters not just in the present life but eternally. This earthly existence can be over in the blink of an eye.

On the church calendar, we are now coming up to the end of the liturgical year. One more Sunday after this, and it will be Advent. The time-honored tradition of many centuries is to use these last weeks to focus on the end times—in other words, not our own personal mortality, but the mortality of our entire world.

In the gospel today, Jesus describes the end times. He makes it clear that the material things we value and even treasure in this life will all be taken away at the end of the age. In referring to the Temple—truly the pride and joy of the Jewish world—Christ says: the days will come when there will not be left a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down. In other words, “Have fun with your cars, cameras and computers, but keep in mind that they are all temporary toys that will break. And while you’re busy enjoying them, don’t forget to also play with the toys of the heart—with faith, hope and love. The toys of the heart will never break. They are everlasting.”

When Jesus is asked when these end times will be, he is very clear about being unclear. He says: See that you not be deceived, for many will come in my name, saying, “I am he,” and “The time has come.” Do not follow them! Christ goes on to talk about nations rising against nations. There will be earthquakes, famines and plagues. People will be persecuted and even put to death. But even then, Jesus says, it will not immediately be the end.

How and when will the end come? We haven’t a clue. It could be a nuclear holocaust caused by a war begun by human beings. Our planet could be knocked off its axis by giant meteors. The sun could burn out. Maybe Al Gore’s vision of global warming taken to the nth degree will do us in. This final chapter of human history is simply not ours to see.

So where does that leave us? Let’s jump to the last sentence of the gospel passage: By your perseverance you will secure your lives.

The Greek word that Luke uses for “perseverance” is hypomone (pronounced: hy-POM-o-nee). It means patience under trials, endurance, steadfastness. It means having a spirit that is strong enough to overcome the trials of life. It doesn’t mean just sitting back and waiting for tribulations and adversities to be over; rather, it means getting up and doing what is right, even in the face of fierce resistance.

Hypomone calls us to fully embrace the values that Christ taught, regardless of how popular or unpopular they may be at the moment. It urges us to develop in our hearts the most indestructible of toys—faith, hope and love. It demands that through our words and actions—through our very lives—we must preach the gospel always and everywhere because the gospel represents God’s love offered to every person, without exception. By definition, then, every person must be given a chance to receive it. That’s our job.

Clearly, we have not succeeded in preaching the gospel to the whole word, inasmuch as the end hasn’t come yet! The truth of Jesus and the infinite love of God must be spread to the forgotten, the ignored, the discounted, the unloved. We still have much to do.

Jesus suggests in today’s reading that the false gospels of false prophets who arise and lead many astray represent one obstacle to the spread of the true gospel. A false gospel is one that proclaims that happiness can be obtained apart from God—for example, through material wealth, individual self-fulfillment programs, or the exercise of political power without the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Such (quote) “gospels” lead to the chaos the Lord is talking about: wars, famine, persecution.

Jesus Christ, the True Gospel, promises only one source of happiness: the love of God offered to every person on earth. How he wants us to see this! Because surely, there is no better way to play and win the game of life.