Don’t Give Up On Us Baby

I am an anxious person by nature. Just ask my fingernails.

By God’s grace and with age, I think I’m getting a little better at not worrying as much. Prayer certainly helps, as does remembering the goodness and faithfulness of God. He has seen me through past crosses; He will certainly be there – in fact, is already there – in the Calvary moments to come.

But then a Gospel reading comes along like this one – as well as the first reading from the prophet Malachi – and I can’t help but find a fingernail (my own) to bite. The prophet mentions the burning of evildoers, while Jesus talks about everything from wars and natural disasters to persecutions and Temple-destruction.

It would have been I beyond a shadow of a doubt who raised his hand to ask the Lord: “When will all this happen? And how will you let us know?”

I suppose its human nature to want to know beforehand when disaster will strike, so we can be prepared. And yet, at the same time, isn’t it ironic that as much as I want to know the future, I don’t really get ready for it? Ask me if I have an emergency bag in the trunk of my car. Ask me where the spare candles are. Go ahead, ask.

Maybe this is the Lord’s way of saying: Prepare now before it’s too late. The end is near.

And it is – on many different levels.

Firstly, the liturgical reason: we are in the end days of the Church’s calendar. Next weekend is Christ the King Sunday, the last Sunday before the start of the Advent and a new Church year. When we start to reach the end of a journey, it is normal and healthy to reminisce, to ponder where we’ve been, and to make right what might be left unsaid or undone.

Thus, the Church in her love is asking us: are you ready to walk into Advent with everything you need to become holy? Is there anything you need to bring to Confession, to the healing mercy of Christ? What are you holding onto that the Lord wants to take in order to set you free?

You can’t be ready for new beginnings when you are weighed down by chains.

Beyond the practicality of preparing for Advent, however, the Lord through His Bride, the Church, is also preparing our hearts for something even greater than 4 weeks of purple-and-rose candles leading to Christmas, and it is this: mission.

You and I are baptized to be missionaries, and most of us may never leave our hometowns. That’s exactly what Christ wants of us.

I am very taken by the fact that when Jesus was asked by his disciples when the stones of the Temple would be thrown down with nothing left standing, he didn’t really answer the question. He didn’t say: “Next week” or “Two years from now.” Instead he re-shifted the focus toward the true answer for which they (and we) should constantly seek: living faithfully and fully in the eternal now. Living as holy witnesses to the Truth of God’s Mercy and Love in a world that has lost its way. Becoming missionaries of the Gospel wherever we may find ourselves today.

With great love, Jesus was preparing his beloved disciples to walk the walk of following in His footsteps, all the way from Calvary to eternity, and there are definite steps to take:

First, cling to the Truth of Christ no matter what shiny things may come our way. “See that you aren’t deceived, for many will come in my name saying, ‘I am he.’” God is bluntly telling us – those whose minds and hearts are open – that there will be many people and things who will claim in every generation that they are the way: the way to ease and comfort; the highway straight to heaven (so to speak). Preachers who sermonize on Gospel prosperity; technology that promises all the answers to every problem; the money that blankets us in comfort … Jesus says: “Do not follow them.”

There’s no other way to put it: if the Cross is not the way you follow, you aren’t following Jesus. If you expect any other way to eternity than the road that leads through Calvary, you won’t find heaven.

This does not mean that God relishes in our suffering and pain. He doesn’t. Rather, he weeps when we weep and remains in our storm-tossed boats for as long as the gale winds blow. Every cross carried through Him, with Him and in Him will lead to resurrection, often in ways and times we don’t understand as we struggle to move forward. And yet, resurrection always comes for those who strive to enter the narrow gate of Calvary.

We must look like Him when we return Home one day, and even Christ kept the wounds of His Cross. If we aren’t following the Crucified One in our daily lives, we aren’t living Jesus.

Secondly, about those wars, earthquakes, plagues and mighty sights: I know we hear such things and think – surely he’s coming soon. I almost wonder if every generation expects the very same thing. But notice what he says as he talks about the end-times signs: “Do not be terrified,” oh nail-biters. Don’t live life in constant fear.

The Lord offers these “no fear” words of comfort because he expects us to live in the eternal now. If we trust Him; if we are faithful and prayerful, attending Mass and frequenting the Sacraments; if we strive to live and love justly and mercifully: then we will be ready when He comes, and nothing shall steal our inner-joy and Godly peace. That doesn’t mean we won’t experience suffering; we will. What it does mean is that we know Whose we are and Who will see us through to the end. We will live life knowing that eternity begins now, and that longing for complete Love comes when we pass from this world to the next, whenever and however God has destined that moment to be. Trust chases away the fear and allows us to offer everything – including the struggles and doubts – to use according to His Will.

And once we start really embracing that Divine Will, then comes the third component of Jesus’ missionary call for us: be ready to be mocked, scorned, ignored and easily dismissed. Certainly throughout the ages for many of our brothers and sisters in Christ, they have given their physical lives for Christ and His Church. Christ scares people, and so the world wants to silence the message in us. The world wants sin to reign supreme; God offers a harder way, and many who follow it will be persecuted because of it.

And lest we think the hatred from the world always comes in dramatic ways, Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians (our second reading) indicates this instead: “we lived and worked as a model among you in a world that wants to live in a disorderly way.” Most times, Christian martyrdom comes in the daily dying to self for the sake of the Gospel – to respond and love as Jesus would.

Choosing not to gossip when the neighbor irks us; refusing to respond with road rage when the inconsiderate driver cuts us off; not putting the expectations we place on ourselves onto others, thus working hard not to show disappointment. All are ways we live missionary discipleship in our everyday lives, even in a world that doesn’t understand us and often tries to silence the Light that came to scatter the darkness.

Many years ago, while living in Racine, Wisconsin, I met a parishioner who was raising a family of 8 young children. One day while in line at the local supermarket, an older woman standing behind them said to the Mom, heavy sarcasm dripping from her voice: “You Catholics and your selfishness. All these kids because you won’t use birth control. You’re the reason our world is falling apart.”

It would have been easy to respond with a biting and bitter comeback. Perhaps the thought crossed this Mom’s mind. Instead, and with true sincerity, she responded gently: “Ma’am, my children are my greatest blessing, and I can’t wait to see how they fill this world with love.”

That was it.  Speaking words of truth when fear might want us to do otherwise. Choosing to love in a way that pushes back against hate. Standing up for faith in a world that mocks “thoughts and prayers” at every turn. Choosing the Cross over ease.

Being a missionary in the eternal now of God’s Mercy and Love.

It’s enough to make one stop biting his nails!