I’m sure
we’ve all heard that the word “gospel” is derived from the Old English word for
“good news.” So let me get this straight. In today’s “good news,” Jesus tells
us to expect wars, insurrections, earthquakes, famines, and plagues, that we’ll
be handed over by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends, we’ll face
persecution and imprisonment, we’ll be hated by all, and some of us will be put
to death. What’s so good about that? Perhaps a deeper dive into our readings
will help us find out.
Today’s first reading from
Malachi and our Gospel from Luke are examples of apocalyptic literature. The
word “apocalypse” simply means “revelation” or “unveiling.” In fact, the name of the Book of
Revelation in its original Greek is Apocalypsis (Ἀποκάλυψις). Apocalyptic passages in
Scripture speak of the end times—the time when the world as we know it will come
to an end, and the Kingdom of God will reign forever. Unfortunately, the
word apocalypse has gotten a bad rap. We’ve lost its broader meaning as a
result of fundamentalist interpretations of Scripture, movies like Apocalypse
Now, and TV shows like Good Omens. The word invokes in our mind’s
eye only tumultuous, violent, end-of-the-world scenarios that we’d rather not think
about and not the happy ending that Scripture promises. We’ve forgotten that the
apocalyptic passages in the Bible tell us that at the end of time, God will
conquer all evil and save the righteous. As our first reading tells us, “God’s
fire can both destroy and heal.”[1]
So we have nothing to be afraid of, as long as we’re on the right side.
For sure, today’s readings present hard truths spoken
with conviction. We have to take them seriously. Yet, “the most
important element of apocalyptic literature is that the present evil age is
coming to an end through a powerful intervention from God.”[2]
Christians believe that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus is that
intervention. That’s why it’s
been the longstanding tradition of the Church to end the liturgical year with
apocalyptic readings, not to scare us to death, but to point us to Jesus
Christ, whose first and second comings we anticipate in Advent. The Church wants
to remind us to get on Jesus’ side. Jesus’ side is the right side. Jesus is our
happy ending. Jesus is the good news!
So why all this talk about wars,
famines, persecutions, and death? Jesus was a realist. He saw the world as it
really is. He wants us to know that these things are the consequences of evil,
that they will continue, and that “disciples are not exempt from suffering”[3]
The forces of evil won’t go down without a good fight. But he also wants us to
know that he suffered with us and for us. Just look at his life as reported in
the Gospels. Jesus experienced temptation, fear, sadness, agony, false
accusation, gossip, mocking, mourning, pain, humiliation, and death, just like
we do. “The passion of Jesus is not over; it continues in those who follow him.
[But] suffering is not the whole of it. Resurrection is the deeper and more
abiding truth.”[4]
How we face these challenges is our choice. Will we sit around waiting for the
end to come while accomplishing nothing, like the Thessalonians in our second
reading? Will we wring our hands in fear, wondering if we’ll end up on the wrong
side? Or will we pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and get on the right
side?
Jesus calls us to face these
challenges as he did—as faithful witnesses to the good news of a loving God who
offers us eternal life. “We are in a time of witnessing in the face of
suffering and death.” [5]
If anyone doubts that we live in a period of Christian witness, consider the
roll call of the imprisoned and martyred Saints we celebrate this month and the
countless persecuted Christians around the world still today. “There has never
been a time in human history when wars, earthquakes, famines, and plagues have
not been part of the picture.”[6]
It’s in times like these that we must turn to the examples of our “courageous
and prophetic visionaries who devoted themselves completely to Jesus’ call to
create community, oppose injustice, work for peace, and make a place for the
excluded.”[7]
Jesus assures us that by our endurance, we will gain our lives (Luke 21:19), so
we need to use whatever time we may have on this planet wisely and well:
-
If we want an end to war, we need to get on Jesus’ side and witness
to the Gospel.
-
If we want an end to terrorist attacks and shootings, we
need to get on Jesus’s side and witness to the Gospel.
-
If we want the naked clothed, the hungry fed, the homeless
sheltered, and the sick and dying comforted, we need to get on Jesus’ side and witness
to the Gospel.
If we want to make sure we end up on the right side, we need
to live like the saints we’re intended to be. We need to work for justice,
fight for equality, and lift up the lowly, all the while proclaiming the victory
of our God, resounding with the sea, clapping with the rivers, and shouting
with the mountains like our psalmist (Psalm 98: 7,8). Jesus invites every one
of us to sainthood in every moment of our lives. Living like a saint means
accepting the challenges of life as moments of grace and opportunities to give
witness to the Gospel.
Apocalyptic writings present
hard truths that we can’t ignore, but they also paint a beautiful picture of
“the tenacity of faith and hope among the people of God.”[8]
How so? Because today’s readings and every apocalyptic passage in the Bible make
clear that those who witness to the Gospel have nothing to worry about at the
end of time. No matter how our lives may end, not a hair on our heads will be
destroyed. That’s what’s so good about the good news.
[1]
Elaine Park, Konrad Schaeffer, Douglas Leal, Workbook for Lectors, Gospel
Readers, and Proclaimers of the Word: 2019 Year C (Chicago: Liturgy
Training Publications, 2018), 287.
[2]
Jude Winkler, New St. Joseph Handbook for Proclaimers of the Word:
Liturgical Year C 2019 (New Jersey: Catholic Book Publishing Corp, 2018),
392.
[3]
Fred B. Craddock, Luke: Interpretation, A Bible Commentary for Preaching and
Teaching (Louisville, John Knox Press, 2009), 245.
[4]
John Shea, The Spiritual Wisdom of the Gospels for Christian Preachers and
Teachers: The Relentless Widow, Year C (Collegeville: Liturgical Press,
2006), 316.
[5]
Craddock.
[6]
Michael F. Patella, “The Gospel According to Luke,” in New Collegeville
Bible Commentary: New Testament, ed. Daniel Durken (Collegeville:
Liturgical Press, 2009), 296.
[7]
R. Alan Culpepper, “The Gospel of Luke,” in The New Interpreter’s Bible,
vol. IX, ed. Leander E. Keck (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1995), 402.
[8]
Craddock 243.
