The Sun of Righteousness Mal 3:19-20; 2 Thes 3:7-12; Lk 21:5-19 (C 33)

 

The Sun of Righteousness

 

Mal 3:19-20; 2 Thes 3:7-12; Lk 21:5-19 (C 33)

“The sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings” (Mal 4:2)

 

Today, the Gospel speaks to us about the final coming of the Son of Man. As the liturgical year draws to a close, the Church sets before us the mystery of the Parousia, and at the same time invites us to reflect on the “last things”: death, judgment, hell, or heaven. The Greek term “Parousia” combines the prefix “para” meaning “beside,” with “ousia,” meaning “essence,” indicating a presence alongside. Its literal meaning is “presence,” “coming,” or “arrival.” It is often used in the New Testament to refer to the Second Coming of Christ. There is a conception of the day of Lord in the Jewish scriptures. The Jews regarded time as being in two ages. First, there was the age that was altogether evil, incapable of being cured, and fit only for destruction. There will be a golden age of God to come. But in between the two there would be the day of the Lord, which would be a terrible time of cosmic upheaval and destruction, the desperate birth-pangs of the new age. However, it also reflects the Parousia, the Lord’s day.

 

The Old Testament presents us that the Lord’s day would be a day of terror, “Behold the day of the Lord comes, cruel with wrath and fierce anger, to make the earth a desolation and to destroy its sinners from it” (Is 13:9; compare Joel 2:1-2; Amos 5:18-20; Zep 1:14-18). It would come suddenly. “The day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night” (1 Thes 5:2; compare 2 Pet 3:10). It would be a day when the world would be shattered. “The stars of the heavens and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be dark at its rising and the moon will not shed its light.... Therefore…the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken out of its place in the day of his fierce anger” (Is 13:10-13; compare Joel 2:30-31). In the same way, the day of the Lord was one of the basic conceptions of religious thought in the time of Jesus presented by the evangelist (Lk 21:9; 21:11; 21:25-26).

 

God is just and gives each person what he or she has earned on earth. He neither punishes nor rewards arbitrarily. He respects our freedom. Yet we must keep in mind that once we leave this world, we will no longer have the freedom to choose. “To die in mortal sin without repenting and accepting God’s merciful love means remaining separated from him forever by our own free choice” (CCC 1033). In the second part of today’s Gospel, Jesus warns that his followers will face persecution for their beliefs. Luke presents persecution as an opportunity for the followers of Jesus, for “It will lead to your giving testimony” (Lk 21:13). In persecution, God’s wisdom and power will be shown in the example of followers of Jesus. Perseverance in the face of persecution will lead us to salvation. Here, Jesus assures us that God is present to all believers, even in times of trouble. Ultimately, as disciples of Jesus, we try to follow his example, trusting in God’s mercy and protection even when we face difficulties.

 

 

 

“He will judge the world with equity and the peoples in his truth”