WHY THE END TIMES ARE STILL GOOD NEWS?

Reflection on the Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time (Daniel 12:1-3, Hebrews 10:11-14, 18, Mark 13:24-32)

As we near the end of the liturgical year, the readings of this Sunday invite us to reflect on the last days. Biblical passages about the end times are undoubtedly dark as they accompany predictions and prophecies about great wars, famine, earthquakes, disease, crimes, violence and corruption, deterioration of values, etc., (Revelations 6 and 11, Luke 21, Matthew 24, Mark 13, 2 Timothy 3). Is it all there is to say about the end times? Today’s readings help us discern three reasons why the end time prophesies are still Good news. 

1. End Times and Encounters:

Biblical prophecies about end times announce the good news of a definitive encounter with God. Daniel, in the first reading, foretells our meeting with ‘Michael, the great prince’. Jesus, in the Gospel, Jesus describes our forthcoming encounter with ‘the Son of Man coming in the clouds’. Aren’t these opportunities to meet with God our ‘Good news’? Should they not fill us with joy instead of panic and terror? Jesus adds, “When you see these things happening, know that he is near, at the gates”. Every heartbreak, misery, and calamity is a sure sign of the nearness of God, a certain proof that a loving and merciful God awaits us behind the veil.

Every time humanity slips into self-destruction mode, our eternal High Priest (second reading) intervenes, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock” (Revelations 3:20). Encounters with God are moments of revelation. The word ‘apocalypse’ from Greek apokalyptein and Latin apocalypsis means disclosure, uncovering, and revelation. Jesus adds, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away”. What we consider the most credible may fail. The sky, stars, sun, and moon may perish but God’s revelatory Word never fails. 

2. End Times and New Beginnings: 

Jesus says, “Learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branch becomes tender and sprouts leaves, you know that summer is near”. Isn’t it odd that Jesus uses an image from spring to teach about the end times? Springtime is a season of hope and promise. It is a sure sign that summer is near. The tragedies that characterise the biblical prophecies about the end times are not merely fatalistic pronouncements of the end of the world but hope-filled affirmations of renewal, reconciliation, and re-creation.

From within the leaf-stripped autumn branches, the life-filled spring buds burst forth. Behind the dark images of the end times, lies the hidden message of hope, life, and new beginnings. The signs of distress and fear are indicators of a transitional period that announces the Good news of the forthcoming restoration and redemption. As Jesus declares in Luke 24:8, violence, wars, families, and earthquakes are the beginnings of ‘birth pains’. There is a new life awaiting the current hardships and discomfort. As Daniel affirms, at the end times, the just and the wise shall ‘awake and live forever’.

3. End Times and Human Responsibility: 

Yes, Michael is arriving. Yes, the Son of Man is coming ‘with great power and glory’. Is their arrival any different from our fictional superhero landings? Are they any different from the likes of Superman, Batman, and Iron Man?  Is the Son of Man going to pull us out of poverty, violence, wars, ecological crisis, and injustice like Spiderman would? Is he going to solve the problems of our own making on our behalf? Fictional superheroes are expressions of our wish to escape reality, lust for immortality, hope for magical shortcuts, and the fear of taking responsibility for our actions and destiny.

The End Time prophecies do not promote fantasy, escapism, or hero worship. On the contrary, they oblige us to take responsibility for our future. They shake us up to become aware of the direction we are headed so that we can course-correct. Our responsibility is to do what is in our power to promote life, love, and justice. Our choices and efforts matter. Superheroes are muscled men (sometimes women) wielding swords, hammers, and shields, who can throw buses, fly into space, punch the enemy into oblivion, control minds, and kill with X-ray and heat vision. None of these is biblical. The Son of Man does not define power by violence but through his compassion and nearness. He is near, at the gates of those who need him, to empower them to transform their lives and society.

May the Good news of the end times enable us to encounter God, fill us with the hope of a new beginning, and inspire us to become responsible agents of change.