Homily Thirty-Fourth Friday of Ordinary Time (Rev 20:1-4, 11-21:2) “Divine Encouragement”
Homily Thirty-Fourth Friday of Ordinary Time (Rev 20:1-4, 11-21:2) “Divine Encouragement”
We like to believe that everything will end up just and fair. If we have that feeling, then we are like the early Christians. The first Christians were persecuted. Many were thrown out of the synagogue because they professed their belief in Jesus the Messiah. Some were displaced from Palestine when Jerusalem was conquered by the Romans in 70 C.E. Also, there were many Christians who were martyred for their faith. We might imagine that they longed to be vindicated.
The Book of Revelation is all about vindication. We look at the Book of Revelation as kind of frightening because it describes the end times. We read of various monsters and armies that destroy the wicked.
We also read about a final judgement. Those who are wicked and have persecuted the church are punished. In the end, the villains of this story get their just reward. The retribution is horrifying to contemplate.
The message of Revelation was meant to reassure the first Christians that all their sacrifices were worth it. The people who had been so brutal towards the followers of Jesus would in the end pay a price. Evil would not win. Goodness and right would win.
The difficulty for the early Christians was that they would not live to see this. All they might ever experience was the suffering. The faithfulness they tried to exercise might only pay off in the future.
We still live, waiting for the Lord’s return. We may not be maltreated because of our faith, but if we take our faith seriously, we make sacrifices that are an investment in the future. Being truthful, honest, chaste, charitable, peaceable, forgiving, does not make sense in a worldly sense. Living as Jesus lived only makes sense if we believe in the supernatural. Grace comes from living a good Christian life and in the end vindication.
Reflection Questions:
- Does my Christianity make sense to me? Is there a benefit in living like Jesus?
- When I am unjustly treated by others do I believe there will come a reckoning? What I want that to be?
Dear Parishioners,
This weekend we celebrate the First Sunday of Advent. Usually, we would have the Rite of Becoming a Catechumen on this Sunday, but this year we will probably have this rite a little later. We do have five people in our RCIA class. So far, they have been most faithful. We have now moved the class online. This is not ideal, but our hope is to keep everyone healthy. This is becoming more challenging. Right now, we have three priests in our vicariate who have caught COVID and another priest who is in quarantine.
We also will be working with our first communicants and confirmation candidates online. Please pray for all those seeking the sacraments of initiation. The work of the church goes on despite all the challenges.
May Our Lady and All the Angels and Saints keep you safe today,
Fr. Mark