by Archbishop Joseph Harris
Gospel Mark 13:24-32
Jesus said to his disciples: “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.”
Homily
The gospel given to us for this weekend meditation is part of the last discourse of Jesus’ public ministry which takes place just before Jesus’ capture, judgment and death. As such it is a warning for his disciples, in very symbolic language, that all that they had come to love, all that they had come to depend upon was going to be taken from them. Their world was going to be shattered. “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.”
This is in fact a situation that all of us face from time to time; accusations that have the potential to destroy our lives, the death of a spouse, the loss of a child, or for a country, a disintegration of the social order. When such things happen it appears that our world is coming to an end.
Jesus however gives to his disciples a ray of hope. He tells them that in the midst of seeming disaster one has to be able to find signs of new life. “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.” Christian people have to be eternal optimists, capable of finding signs of hope in the most deplorable situations. It is these signs of hope that give us the courage to keep on working for what seems to be the lost dream.
The gospel also tells us that God “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.” Who are these elect? It seems to me that the elect are those chosen to make what seems the lost dream, a reality but these are gathered by the angels, those eternal optimists who are capable of recognizing signs of hope in the midst of the most deplorable conditions.
It was because the saints were eternal optimists that they could undertake the seemingly foolhardy tasks which they did. St. Francis was called to renew the church. He who was never a priest gathered around him a group of men who brought about renewal to the church. John Bosco had a dream of converting unruly young men who were described as being as ferocious as wolves into lambs. He founded a Congregation which is now international, dedicated to youth. Mother Teresa’s sisters work throughout the world lending help to those most in need. All of these were eternal optimists seeing signs of hope where others saw only disaster.
As we come to the end of the church’s year the gospel reminds us that in any situation of travail, when our world seems to be coming to an end, be it our own personal world or the greater world, we are called to be people of hope, eternal optimists rallying others to continue working for that dream which must become reality.
Today we thank God for the eternal optimists in our midst. We thank God here in T&T for those who keep the dream of World Cup football alive. We thank God for Servol, the institution which saw hope in youth that most people had written of. We thank God for those who continue working in spite of the multiple problems to make T&T, a little bit of paradise.
Prayer
All powerful and ever-loving God, the reality of imperfection in our lives makes us all yearn for new beginnings but we are often discouraged by our weaknesses and our constant failures in spite of trying. We often believe that all is destroyed. Give us the grace not to give up. Help us to believe in your power to save and to transform. Help us to rely onYou for you are our strength. Give us the grace of constant hope for without hope there can be no new beginnings. We ask this through the intercession of Mary, our Mother and your Son Jesus. Amen
