Thirty Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

Year C

Readings: Malachi 3:19-20, 2 Thessalonians 3:7-12 and Luke 21:5-19

Take care not to be deceived

As we are drawing closer to the end of the Liturgical Year (Just one more week to go!), we are invited, dear friends, to reflect upon the end times. The readings of today talk about it pretty clearly and invite us to look into it with a new insight. As human beings we are all concerned about the end of the world and the end of times prophesies are not new to us; on average every year we have one or the other leaders talk about the end of the world! Let us reflect and see how we can work our way through this mystical concept called ‘end of the world’ and alert ourselves to the words of Jesus, “Take care not to be deceived” (Luke 21:8).

Jesus in today’s Gospel, and prophet Malachi in today’s first reading, talk about the end times. We are told that there will be widespread destructions through war, famine, earthquakes and plagues. The immorality will be at its peak. Betrayal and hate against each other, especially towards the disciples will be extreme, even to the extent of betraying one’s own family member; to be honest, the end of times are unimaginable. But in reality, it is taking place now. We hear about wars and bloodshed every day in our world (Just switch on the telly for morning news!). There is betrayal of trust within the family and neighbours. All this is happening in front of our very eyes. Does it mean we are in the end of times? Are Jesus’ words becoming true? Is the world coming to an end? We are absolutely right in asking these questions, dear friends, but did Jesus really mean it?

Before answering this question, let us look at the second reading from St. Paul’s second letter to the Thessalonians. St. Paul is making very strong comments on people who are spending their time idly, doing nothing to support themselves and also interfering in other’s lives. It is possible that these people, in Thessalonica, were the doomsday prophets, who kept talking about the end days and stopped people from working. St Paul, who, by this time (probably AD 50), himself seems to have realised that the second coming of Jesus is not imminent, instead we need to prepare ourselves to meet the Lord. So he takes the lead in letting people know that instead of waiting for the Lord to come, as His followers we need to be ready ourselves. Instead of worrying about the end of times, we need to look after each other by working and earning our livelihood. Instead of trying to tell people that the world is coming to an end, we need to prepare for our own end so that we are worthy and ready to receive the Lord in our own lives.

So dear friends, I feel we have managed to answer the above question by reflecting upon today’s second reading which gives us a new insight to look at the end of times. Though there is tragedy around the world, though there is promotion of, what is called, ‘culture of death,’ though there is hatred and betrayal of one’s own people, we do have the hope that we are called by God to eternal life. We do have the hope that we are saved. We do have the hope that we are not alone, for our Saviour himself has shown us the way to the Father. So let us live our everyday life fruitfully. Let us live our ‘today’ in a meaningful way so our ‘tomorrow’ will be significant. Let us live our ‘present’ in a generous way, so our ‘future’ will be substantial. Let us make our ‘living’ joyful so our ‘dying’ will be glorious. And this is my prayer for you all, dear friends, as we come to the end of the Liturgical Year, that may your New Year be a time where you feel that living every day to its fullest may make you happy and prosperous. Amen.