Pastor's Letter-- November 14, 2021

Dearly beloved parishioners,
We are at the penultimate Sunday in our current Liturgical Year. And the end of a liturgical season is a great time to ponder on the end of time, as well as our own end. The cosmic events spoken of in our First and Gospel readings this weekend are not intended to generate or even validate speculations as to the hour when these would happen, but to call us to focus on Jesus who is the Lord of history, and in whom human history has been and is being redeemed. Whereas the first reading from Daniel speaks of events during the tyrannical reign of Antiochus IV, and the gospel could have been a prediction of events to precede the destruction of Jerusalem, they both serve to encourage the people that God is Lord of history, and that he is at work even in the worst of situations.

As we prepare for the season of Advent, we are invited to ponder on the Lord’s return and our readiness for that great day. The belief in the parousia, or the Second Coming of Christ is central to our confession as Christians. We profess faith in this truth when we say, “From thence he will come again to judge the living and the dead.” We believe that the Second Person of the Trinity became man for our sakes and our salvation. In obedience to the Father’s will, he suffered the consequence of humanity’s sin, taking on himself the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:6; 1 Pet 2: 24). But thanks be to God, that was not the end of the story. He was raised from the dead on the third day, and ascended into heaven where he now sits at the right hand of the Father to intercede for us. This Jesus, before he departed this world, promised to return. He spoke of the imminence of his return to John in his vision, as recorded in the book of Revelation (22:20) The two men in white who appeared to the apostles after he ascended into heaven spoke of his return just as he went into heaven (Acts 1:11-14). In fact, the bible ends with the anticipatory words “Come Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20). The Letter to the Hebrews, from where our Second Reading has been taken, speaks of his return not to take away sin, because he already did that at his first coming, but to reward with salvation those who have been waiting for his return (Hebrews 9:28). Although Jesus has conquered sin and death through his death and resurrection, his return in glory would be a time for him to achieve the definitive triumph of good over evil. Then he would reveal the secret desires of our hearts, and would repay each one according to his acceptance or refusal of grace (Catechism of the Catholic Church par. 681-2).

As the Liturgical Year gradually comes to an end, the readings for this weekend seem appropriate for focusing our attention on the end of our lives. If there is anything that we cannot deny, it is the fact of the contingency of our existence. Today we are here, and tomorrow we are gone. Our death in this world of material existence is only a prelude into another realm of existence; it is our translation into the eternity we have always hoped for. But this eternity would either be to life or to horror and disgrace, depending on whether our names are found in the book of the Lamb. The glory we shall have at the resurrection, when our bodies would rise again, would be determined by whether we lived for God or for ourselves, whether the Lord was our inheritance or we allowed created goods to be our inheritance.

Our responsibility is not to speculate about cosmic events or when the anticipated return of the Lord would be. Our responsibility is to be vigilant at all times and stand ready to receive Christ when he eventually comes again. We must strive to live holy lives, through worthy reception of the sacraments and living active lives of charity and at the service of our brothers and sisters in need. Our Catholic faith offers us countless opportunities for acquiring grace. Let us not miss the opportunities available to us to prepare ourselves for that great day that is not known to any human being but to God alone.

In light of the above, I wish to encourage all our parishioners to reach out to me or our parish office to let us know of any parishioner who is homebound or sick, and in need of the sacraments. Please do not wait until you are certain that a person is dying to call a priest. I try to be available whenever I am called, but you never know, I might be a minute late. It is not my prayer that anyone should be deprived of the consolation of receiving the sacraments before they take their last breath. The best time is not when the doctor recommends hospice care; the best time is as soon as a person begins to be gravely ill. Remember, the Sacrament of the Sick can be repeated multiple times; it is not Last Rites, as we popularly refer to it.

May Jesus bless you, and may Our Lady protect you! With blessings from my heart,