The Day of the Lord (33rd Sunday Ordinary C)

The Dome of the Rock

The oracle of the Lukan Jesus in today’s gospel foretold the destruction of the Holy Temple of Jerusalem: “All that you see here—the days will come when there will not be left a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down” (Lk 21:6).  Indeed today in Jerusalem, what stands very proudly on the very site of the glorious temple is a Muslim mosque with an eye-catching golden dome that stands out when one takes a panoramic view of the city from afar. It’s the “Dome of the Rock” which now houses the foundational stone of the Jerusalem temple where the Jews used to worship God. What remains of the temple is the Western Wall. It is on this site now that the religious Jews pray. On this wall, also called the Wailing Wall, they continue to mourn and weep over the loss of the temple of God.

In today’s gospel reading (Lk 21: 5-19), Luke blends the historical event of the temple’s destruction and the apocalyptic description of the end times. The Lukan Jesus pronounces the oracle and, when asked about the time of its happening, responds with the description of the end times and what will presage the end—calamities, wars, and persecutions. Likewise, the first reading (Mal 3:19-20a) describes the end time as the day of the justice of God.

Each time we come to the end of the liturgical year our readings are those of the apocalyptic writings describing the end times. This is not to frighten us but to give us the opportunity to set our sight beyond the present concerns in this earthly life. We may have been too engrossed with either the pains of our life struggles or the joys of our temporal successes, too enmeshed in the magnitude of our contemporary concerns to see with hope what lies beyond this earthly pilgrimage.

Reflecting on the end times is not meant to scare us or to lose heart; it is not meant to paralyze us with fear. Today’s readings in particular allow us to face the end of time well prepared by heeding these two calling: The call to repentance and the call to steadfastness in faith.

The call to repentance. The first reading describes the end as the day of God’s justice. It is a day “blazing like an oven, when all the proud and all evildoers will be stubble” and will be set on fire. But for those who fear the name of God, “there will arise the sun of justice with its healing rays” (Mal 3:19-20a).  

The end is when we experience the definitive justice of God. While on earth, life seems to be unfair many times. Evil doers seem to prosper while good people suffer persecutions. But when the day of the Lord comes, God will set all things straight. Indeed, our moral life has repercussions on the afterlife. We cannot do evil and not be held responsible for it.

We may do well then to heed the invitation to repent and to “fear the name of God.” This can mean rising up from our complacency and self-centered way of living. This can also mean shaking ourselves out of our pride and conceited sense of self-sufficiency as if we do not need God. Repentance can also take the form of turning away from our evil deeds by committing ourselves to actively help dismantle the structures of sins which we may have participated in.

The "Wailing Wall"

The call to steadfastness in faith. It is very easy to create our own wailing walls where we can continue to mourn and weep for our losses. With the super typhoons mercilessly buffeting our cities and towns, with the earthquakes leaving our homes, churches, offices, bridges, and other infrastructures in ruins, with wars dashing our hopes for harmony and peace among peoples and cultures, it is very easy to lose heart, to doubt in God’s goodness, to be paralyzed by hopelessness, and to give in to evil means of survival.

Yet the message of Luke to his people then is the same message we need to listen to now. The apocalyptic writings of Luke in today’s gospel, announces hardships, sufferings, calamities, and tribulations as presage to the coming of the end. While there is no telling of the definite time of the end, we are called to face whatever hardships and tribulations with steadfastness in faith.

To be steadfast in our faith is to have the courage to give testimony to the goodness of God amidst seeming contrary evidences of destructions around us because we know that it is sin that causes these havoc and not God. God only has grace to see us through all the sufferings.

To be steadfast in faith is to persevere in the face of hatred and looming death because we trust that God will protect us as he has promised: “not a hair on your head will be destroyed. By your perseverance you will secure your lives” (Lk 21: 18). Even death cannot harm those who have been faithful to God.

As we come to the end of our liturgical year, let us see our lives, our important commitments, our endless concerns, our joys and sorrows, our successes and failures in the light of our eternal destiny. Everything will pass away. Great temples we have built can easily crumble leaving us only ruins where we can lament and wail. We look beyond this earthly life without relinquishing our responsibility to make this a beautiful place to live in. As we do, let us always be reminded of our call—to repent and to be steadfast in our faith.