While some people were speaking about how the temple was adorned with costly stones and votive offerings, Jesus said, “All that you see here– the days will come when there will not be left a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down.”
Then they asked him, “Teacher, when will this happen? And what sign will there be when all these things are about to happen?” He answered, “See that you not be deceived, for many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he,’ and ‘The time has come.’ Do not follow them! When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for such things must happen first, but it will not immediately be the end.” Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be powerful earthquakes, famines, and plagues from place to place; and awesome sights and mighty signs will come from the sky.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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People have wanted to know when the world will end, seemingly from the beginning of time. Even the disciples question the Lord about this in today’s Gospel.
“Teacher, when will this happen?” they ask.
“Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom,” the Lord says. “But it will not immediately be the end.”
Although Jesus speaks about the end of the world, he will reveal neither the day nor the hour, because Christians should live in every age as if the Lord is on his way.
“Stay awake!” he says.
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Perhaps it’s wise for us to focus on two things that we do know are coming to an end.
The first is quite obvious – we’re quickly approaching the end of the year. The leaves have fallen, the days are getting darker and colder, the time for the harvest is over.
Winter is at hand.
As we wrap up yet another year, perhaps we can spend a moment today looking back, finding a few things we’re grateful for.
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The second ending is similar. Although we know neither the day nor the hour, we also know that life – my life – is ending at some point.
This is not meant to be a point of sadness, but anticipation. PopeBenedict XVI described the moment of death as, “the great encounter between God and his creation.” Death removes the veil between heaven and earth, allowing us to see the Lord face to face.
This is what all of the prophets longed for in the Old Testament. As the Psalmist says, “Like a dear that years for running streams, so my soul is yearning for you, O God. When can I enter and see the face of God?”
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As we reach the close of another year, now is the time ponder these bigger ideas – death and life; endings and beginnings.
What am I grateful for? And how deeply do I long to see the face of God?
When Jesus looked up he saw some wealthy people putting their offerings into the treasury and he noticed a poor widow putting in two small coins. He said, “I tell you truly, this poor widow put in more than all the rest; for those others have all made offerings from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has offered her whole livelihood.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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On the surface, none of us is poor like the widow in today’s Gospel.
I imagine her slightly bent over, her grey hair up in a bun, she’s entering the Temple leaning on a cane. Her stomach has a slight growl, her clothes reek of dust.
She makes her way over to the collection bin, smiles, then lets go of two copper coins… literally all she has.
It’s a beautiful act of surrender. If fear were her motivation, then she would’ve either kept both coins for herself, or left one hiding in her pocket. But she gives them both to the Lord.
In her own prophetic way, she foreshadows the poverty of Christ, who during his final night on earth gave his final “two coins” away – his very own Body and Blood.
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It’d be difficult for us to mirror that type of surrender – certainly day by day.
But we’re all poor like the widow in the sense that there’s one thing we lack; one thing no human being ever has enough of – time.
Time passes through our fingers like fine grains of sand. In our youth, it seems like we have forever. Then we look back and realize how quickly time has passed.
During this holiday season, the clock will tick even faster, which is why we’re given the example of this widow in today’s Gospel. In the midst of the holiday business, we must remember the Lord.
In what ways can I offer God “two coins” of my time?
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Perhaps it means spending a few extra moments in prayer; stopping by the church before picking up the kids from school or during the day while out running errands.
Maybe we can share an hour with a neighbor making a phone call, writing a few a cards, taking someone out to lunch, or watching the neighbor’s kids to give another parent a few moments of rest.
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“This poor widow put in more than all the rest,” the Lord says. While the others made a donation form their surplus, she did from her poverty.
May we all dig a little deeper today – and offer someone else our time.
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Image credits: (1) The Widow’s Mite by Howard Lyon (2) St. Ignatius Catholic Community (3) Mayo Clinic Health System
Jesus said to his disciples: “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous will answer him and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’ And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of the least brothers of mine, you did for me.’ Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.’ Then they will answer and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?’ He will answer them, ‘Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.’ And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Growing up, I absolutely hated math. I still do. Numbers and equations don’t flow logically from my mind the way words do. But there was one subject that made a little more sense to me than others: geometry.
Geometry deals with shapes and sizes. For example, in geometry, you learn how a square becomes a cube. How a circle becomes a sphere. How a triangle becomes a pyramid. It’s all about adding a third-dimension.
Little did I ever imagine these ideas would also provide an analogy for divine judgment and eternal life.
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Consider eternal life the “third dimension,” where we become the perfect version of ourselves. Whatever you were in life, you are in death.
For example, if you were a circle in life, then you become a sphere in eternity.
If you were a square, then you become a cube.
A triangle, a pyramid.
If you are God’s imperfect friend in life, then you become God’s perfect friend in eternity.
Heaven is the “third dimension.”
What, then, is the criterion for the final judgment? How can we determine what we’ll become?
Part of the answer is revealed in today’s Gospel.
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This is Jesus’ final sermon. Here he makes the standard clear: whatever we do to one another, we do to God himself.
Perhaps no one understood this better in the 20th century than Mother Teresa. Once in an interview, she was asked, “Mother Teresa, you freely choose to live among the poorest of the poor. You’re surrounded by constant hunger, thirst, and death. Why?”
She reached out, grabbed one of the reporter’s hands and on each of his five fingers repeated a word of Jesus:
You. Did. It. To. Me.
“We are not social workers,” she said. “Every day, we touch the body of Christ.”
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Saint Paul learned the same lesson.
Prior to his conversion, Paul persecuted Christians. He dragged them out of their homes, beat them, imprisoned them, and even killed them.
One day while he was riding along the road to Damascus, the Lord appeared to him in a flash of light. Blinded by the brightness, Paul hears a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”
Paul was not only mistreating other human beings; mysteriously, he was doing it to the Lord himself. Overcome by such a radical truth, Paul was forever changed.
As he would later write, “Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it.”
Consider how this applies to our own lives – and to our world – today. Think about the way we treat one another at home, at school, at work. Or the many conflicts raging around the world.
Whatever we do to one another – good, bad, or indifferent – mysteriously, we are doing to the Lord himself, setting the stage for our future.
As Paul reminds us elsewhere, “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive recompense, according to what he did in the body, whether good or evil.”
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Is there anything this Gospel passage excludes from the final judgment?
Aristotle defined wisdom as, “attention to the whole.” Meaning, we cannot read a single bible passage – even Christ’s final sermon, “The Judgment of the Nations” – and consider it as speaking for the whole; we must consider all things the Lord has said.
While charity is paramount, other things are also important, including: communal worship, private prayer, the study of scripture, self-discipline, and living a moral life.
Yes, we care for others. But we also care for our own soul.
Is there any aspect of the Christian life that I’m neglecting – not just in terms of charity, but also in terms of prayer, study, or worship?
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I was never much of a mathematician. But I did learn something in geometry. The perfection of a square is a cube. The perfection of a circle is a sphere.
The perfection of a Christian is becoming God’s friend for eternity. What we do now lays the foundation for our future.
What does that mean for me this week?
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Image credits: (1) First Baptist Church (2) Geeks for Geeks (3) Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Youssef
