Nov. 18, 2012: 33rd Sunday in Ordinary B
Recently, I went to visit a parishioner who had knee replacement surgery a few weeks ago. As those of you who have already had this procedure know, he was in great pain. When I began the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, I asked all the angels and saints, including his recently deceased wife, to place their hands on him to intercede to our Heavenly Father. Only three months ago, this parishioner was spending most of his days taking care of his wife who was ill, and now, his wife who is now in the Kingdom of God, is taking care of him.
This incident reminds us that the Kingdom of God is not a far, remote place; it is already here, among us, interacting with us as if there is no barrier between time and space. Yet when people hear phrases like, “the Kingdom of God is at hand,” some people equate it with something dark and foreboding. When we hear the words, “Apocalypse” and “End Times,” we often conjure up images of the collapse of society, wars, famine, and anarchy. Even today’s Gospel paints a gloomy picture: "In those days after that tribulation the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.” However, Jesus prefaces all this gloomy scene with the following: "But of that day or hour, no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." Jesus then admonishes us, lest all of us spend our time and energy in fear of suffering or in building the best Doomsday facility to hide in order to escape suffering. He says, “Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses it will save it.”
Jesus is not instructing us to fear and to prepare for the arrival of the Doomsday, though that’s precisely what worldly people are doing. The fear of future suffering is driving worldly people to forget that each hour and each day is a gift from God to be lived fully, in the present moment. They don’t realize that by living in fear, they forget to love. St. John reminds us, “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear.” (1 John 4:18) Mother Teresa had this to say about our fear of suffering. “Suffering will never be completely absent from our lives. So don’t be afraid of suffering. Your suffering is a great means of love, if you make use of it, especially if you offer it for peace in the world. Suffering in and of itself is useless, but suffering that is shared with the passion of Christ is a wonderful gift and a sign of love. Christ’s suffering proved to be a gift, the greatest gift of love, because through his suffering our sins were atoned for.”
(New Yorkers helping each other after Superstorm Sandy)
Asked by someone when the Kingdom of God would come, Jesus said in reply, "The coming of the Kingdom of God cannot be observed, and no one will announce, 'Look, here it is,' or, 'There it is.' For behold, the Kingdom of God is among you." What is the Kingdom of God? It is not a kingdom of fear--where people think in terms of everything being scarce. People wrapped up in fear are inclined to develop a mindset that make them say: "There's not enough food for everyone, so I better be sure I save enough for myself in case of emergency," or "There's not enough love to give to everybody, so I'd better keep my friends for myself to prevent others from taking them away from me." This is scarcity mentality. It involves hoarding whatever we have, fearful that we won't have enough to survive. The tragedy, however, is that what you cling to ends up rotting in your hands. What is the Kingdom of God? It is the Kingdom of love, without fear. It is synonymous with Kingdom of Heaven, for in Heaven, there is only one activity--selfless, sacrificial love. If we have eyes to see it, we can see the Kingdom of God everywhere.
A few days ago I visited a lady in a nursing home who was in a tragic auto accident earlier this year. She is bedridden, unable to communicate and move. Above her bed hangs a photo of her with her husband and their young granddaughter, and they were all smiling. Now, her smiles are gone, for the muscles in her face have atrophied, just like her shriveled hands and feet. It is great suffering for her, for some of her broken bones were not healed well. On the wall also hangs a crucifix, a reminder that she is living her life on the cross. She is offering her suffering as a great means of love, for her husband, her children, and for others; she is not fleeing away from suffering in fear. She shares her suffering in a mystical way with the passion of Christ, which is a sign of her love. She is joining countless numbers of those in the Kingdom of God, who offered selfless, sacrificial love for others.
Mother Teresa reminded us to live in the Kingdom of God in the present moment. She said, “Remember that the passion of Christ ends always in the joy of the resurrection of Christ, so when you feel in your own heart the suffering of Christ, remember the resurrection has to come. Never let anything so fill you with sorrow as to make you forget the joy of Christ risen.”
