33rd Sunday Ordinary Time
Fr. Mark Gatto
Preached: November 17, 2024
Story: A fiery preacher was preaching on the end times and on the kingdom of heaven. Then he called out to the people in the church very excited, “All those who want to go to heaven, step over here to the left.” Everyone stepped over except for one man, who stood his ground. The preacher looked at him fiercely and said, “Don’t you want to go to heaven?” The man said, “No.” Preacher asked him again, “Do you mean to tell me you don’t want to go to heaven when you die?” The man replied: “O, yes of course I want to go to heaven when I die. I thought you were going now!”
Have you ever experienced a Fire and Brimstone homily? I am almost too young to remember the days when that was a bit more common. I do remember one priest when I was a young boy who could get pretty fired up. I do not remember what he was saying, but remember him pounding loudly on the Ambo! I do not think I have ever given a real Fire and Brimstone homily in my years as a priest. It seems that Fire and Brimstone preaching was often about instilling fear in people in order to get people to act a certain way.
Through the ages religious leaders and politicians have often tried to create fear in order to manipulate people. We still have certain religious leaders or figures who promote ideas about the end times. It creates fear and anxiety that is about controlling people, rather than inspiring them to change rooted in love. We still have political leaders and figures who promote ideas that encourage hatred towards certain groups, today it is often immigrants. Promoting fear towards groups and using them as scapegoats is a way of getting the support of people.
What about Jesus? In today’s Gospel we see some apocalyptic talk from Jesus, “the sun will be darkened,… stars falling from heaven,… heavens will be shaken.” Sometimes in our world and in our personal lives it can feel that way. But, the purpose of Jesus is not to instill fear or anxiety. Jesus wants us to persevere. In the midst of the dark moments of our life, when things seem hard in our world, we are to stand fast and be faithful.
The early Christians were faced with overpowering forces, the religious leaders in Jerusalem, the persecution of the Roman Empire. It would be easy for them to give in to fear, to abandon their faith or to react with violence and vengeance. In the New Testament they are reminded to stand fast and be faithful. Faithful to what? To continue to be a people of compassion, justice, harmony.
When the world seems to be without mercy, is full of injustice, lacks peace, we are to stand fast and be faithful to the way of Jesus. People of compassion, justice and harmony. Pope Francis was speaking to a group of Religious Sisters recently and said to them, “A sad saint is a sad kind of saint.” I think we can say the same about Christians. “A joyless Christian is a sad kind of Christian.” We need to stand fast and be faithful when faced with the evil, injustice and darkness in our world. Do not go over to that side.
The Sacrifice of Christ that we hear about in our second reading in the letter to the Hebrews, is meant to remind us that Jesus has already laid down his life for us. We do not need to give in to fear and anxiety. Some early Christians were expecting an end time event in their generation. Throughout Christian history there have been religious leaders and figures who promoted the idea that their time was the end time.
Today we still have certain Christian figures who declare that we are in the end times. This has always provoked fear and anxiety in a way that manipulated people. The fact is that any death of a loved one is in a certain way, an end time. Our own approaching death is an end time. Various losses we experience in this life are an experience of an end time. But, Jesus is clear that as to the ultimate end time, no one knows the day or the hour, not even Jesus in his humanity.
A fire and brimstone homily that only leads to fear and anxiety is not faithful to the vision of Jesus. Jesus wants us to be ready today, in this moment, but not to give in to fear and anxiety. Jesus wants us to stand fast and be faithful to the vision of the Gospel. When the world seems violent, broken, full of injustice and lacking peace, we Christians need to remain rooted in the Gospel vision.
Be people of compassion when we do not experience it in our world. Be people of justice when so often our world does not seem just. Be people who promote harmony and peace when our world seems so lacking in both. When there is a religious leader or figure, including those in social media, who promote a vision that leads to fear and anxiety, then ignore them. When there are political figures who promote a vision that leads to fear and scapegoats certain groups of people, ignore them and stand fast in the Gospel vision.
When Jesus gives that apocalyptic vision of a time when “the sun will be darkened,… stars falling from heaven,… heavens will be shaken,” he is encouraging us to stand fast and be faithful even when the world around us seems so dark, when our personal lives seem so difficult. We are to remain rooted in the Gospel vision of compassion, justice and harmony.
