As we wrap up the ministry of Christ before celebrating his birth during the Advent Season, we come full circle to the question asked on the first Sunday of Advent, “When will the end of the world come?”
In the first reading Malachi tells us that God says that people who think they are better than others and do evil will be punished but those who worship God will have justie and healing. This is supported by the Gospel reading. Jesus foretells some frightening events like earthquakes, floods, famine, wars and people being put in jail because of their belief in God. But he says at the end of the reading, “…but not a hair on your head will be destroyed. By your perseverance you will secure your lives.” In our children’s liturgy book the reading is interpreted, “Nothing and no one can hurt you. You will be saved because you believe in me and have stayed faithful to me.
That’s scary stuff for kids AND adults!!! We don’t want them to feel terrified of believing in and loving God…nor do we want to feel afraid of our faith being the cause of our own suffering, persecution and death. As grownups we know that the reality of that exists within our world today and that millions of people have already died because of their religious beliefs and will continue to do so. They should be examples to us because they did not abandon God to save their earthly life. They chose eternal life with God which is infinitely better than what we have now. Remember last weeks readings about the 4 brothers who were tortured, beaten and killed for their belief in God? They said things that exemplified their strong faith in God. One brother referred to his hands, which were about to be cut off, saying, “It is from heaven that I received these, for the sake of his laws I disdain them, from him I hope to receive them again.” And the last brother who, near death, said, “It is my choice to die at the hands of men with the hope God gives of being raised up by him,…” Jesus has promised to always be with us…he again promises that he will give us the wisdom to speak to our adversaries who will be powerless to resist what we say.
It is time to strengthen our bond and our relationship with our God. If you are worried, pray more often each day and ask God, ask Jesus, ask the Holy Spirit to grant you peace and ask for help with your burden of worries. Do not worry about what we cannot control, work hard so that you are not a burden to another which will in turn keep your mind off the worries we should be leaving to Jesus to help us carry. It is a strong relationship with Jesus that will give us the strength and perseverance we need to NOT worry about things we cannot change and to trust in God that the things that happen are happening because they are necessary and fulfill his will even if we do not understand why. No where and at no time does Jesus tell us that we are to going to receive a full explanation of the will of God. But he repeatedly tells us to trust God and to allow the will of God to happen because it fulfills a mighty purpose that we cannot begin to imagine. Even Jesus, in such a dreadful fear of his crusifixion to come that he was sweating droplets of blood, said to our Father in heaven, “IF it is YOUR will, Father, take this cup from me, but YOUR will not MINE be done.” Embrace that statement…let it rule your life…love God with all your heart and soul and trust HIM to do what is right and necessary so that all things can come to pass that must for us to return to God and live eternally IN HIS PRESENCE as we were created to do!
The Psalm this week is Psalm 98: The Lord Comes to Rule The Earth With Justice. Follow the link for a demo of the psalm and a lead sheet.
Have a blessed week!