Malachi 3:19-20a 2^nd Thessalonians 3:7-12 Luke 21:5-19

More intensely than those of last Sunday, today’s scripture readings are blatantly apocalyptic. The word “apocalypsis” is Greek for “revelation” as in “a message revealed by God or an angel from another world.” Apocalyptic language in sacred scripture generally arises during times of persecution and is embellished with imagery which we moderns appreciate as technicolor and surround sound and a large dose of divine wrath and harshness. The purpose of apocalyptic language is to provide hope in those times of violent persecution and fear, and they are usually expressed in terms saying that God will reward the good and punish the evil in just and dramatic ways. This is how we must hear Malachi’s prophecy today, i.e., not as a prediction of the end times, but as a confident hope for an end to evil and the exaltation of goodness.

To appreciate Malachi’s message in a more balanced, non-apocalyptic, manner, one would do well to read the verses immediately before today’s short pair of verses. In 3:17ff the prophet writes, “[Those who revere the LORD] shall be mine, says the LORD of hosts, my special possession on the day when I act, and I will spare them as parents spare their children who serve them ...” The modern Church is less and less an apocalyptic Church and increasingly an eschatological Church. In other words, we no longer dwell upon or even look forward to a calamitous and terrifying “End of the World” in apocalyptic terms. Neither do we hope merely or simplistically for dramatic punishment of evil-doers who persecute or abuse the innocent. Rather, by means of an increasingly mature and intelligent reflection on the Gospel message, and with an ever-enlarging appreciation of the reality of the created universe, we try to make sense of how we live now and how we experience the profound goodness and mystery of God now. Thus, by living thoughtfully and reflectively in the now we prepare to “give an accounting of ourselves” in the future when we meet God as St. Paul would later write in his letter to the Romans (14:12). We imagine that such an accounting will be expected at what has been called one’s Particular Judgment, i.e., at the moment of one’s death and face-to-face meeting with the God of justice and mercy. Malachi was using the pedagogical method of trying to frighten evil-doers out of their evil ways and into reformed and virtuous lives of doing good. There has been a conscientious determination by Catholic catechists for half a century now to move away from some fear pedagogy and to replace it with a pedagogy of intelligent persuasion through love and reason.

To reiterate, the Gospel message as lived by the Church today has more properly moved away from such coercive pedagogy in favor of loving and rational persuasion and healthy, balanced and intelligent theological reflection. Luke’s 21^st chapter, however, places Jesus in his Jewish religious which was an apocalyptic setting which developed from Jewish history of the previous 7 centuries. The apocalyptic expectation of the ancients fit in with and was fostered by the cosmological expectations of the pre-scientific era. We, today, live in an age of more informed and refined scientific knowledge in such a way that we simply do not expect the end of the world to come presaged by wars and insurrections or famines or earthquakes. Rather, we know that we can work to effectively correct injustices and to alleviate poverty, hunger, and all the other causes for insurrection and war. Thus, if and because we care for the planet and the human race, then we will be building an era of peace and justice, one of which we will be happy and pleased to thank God for the opportunity of living our lives.

Paul lived in an era, too, when the early Christians genuinely expected the Risen Christ to return soon. It was to be an era in which all injustices would be righted by the triumphant Savior, and in which evil-doers (especially those who persecuted the Church) and any others who denied the God of mercy and love, would be punished in public and dramatic fashion to the profound satisfaction and encouragement of the suffering believers. Paul’s words in today’s text are exhortations to early Christian extremists who had decided to quit earning their bread and paying their bills in expectation of that 2^nd Coming. They expected that it would arrive very soon. Paul saw the risk of them becoming moochers and social parasites. He preached an orderliness which allowed society to be dignified and generous and thankful, one in which every believer played a responsible part. His rule that “anyone unwilling to work, neither should that one eat” was a practical effort at making the lazy or religiously unbalanced reconsider their membership in the Gospel community. Indeed, there was a religious immaturity among some of the early Christians. Religious over-simplification by some in any era generally becomes a burden upon the larger community. Mooching and simplistic faith must not be condoned or allowed among those who claim to be responsibly free in the Gospel of Christ.

These three texts are proclaimed today to remind us to be ever more mature and reflective of how we embrace the Gospel message both as individuals and as a community. Our responsibilities in both realms are important; they are inseparably connected. We must embrace the tasks and challenges of life with Gospel confidence. Malachi was a prophet who lived in a harsh age when Judaism was critiquing and reforming it’s communal religious identity. The temple had been rebuilt and the Jews were learning how to be a truly monotheistic religion in a very pluralistic society. Their values and ways of life were constantly challenged. They had to learn how to engage and live in peace while refining, reforming and renewing the faith that God’s love had instilled in them. They changed much without appreciating it fully. From Malachi’s era to that of Jesus, the ideas of life after death and of resurrection both arose, evolved and became very important to many in Judaism. Jesus was the beneficiary of this theologically reflective era and he focused his Gospel message on engaging life fully and on the promise of a future life eternal. So, now near the end of another liturgical year, we reflect on why we have prayed what we have prayed and why we love as we love in the present, and on what we hope for the future.