Daniel 12:1-3
The book of Daniel was written 150 years before Christ, when the Jews were experiencing fierce persecution. The author wanted to encourage the people by telling heroic stories of a person named Daniel who lived many centuries earlier. For most of their history, Old Testament people believed only in, at best, a shadowy existence after death. Today's passage contains one of the earliest references to a growing belief in a more developed form of life after death. (This passage is one of the Lectionary readings for funerals.)
Hebrews 10:11-14,18
Scholars feel that the community for which the Letter to the Hebrews was written included Christians of Jewish origin. Since the letter was written after the Jewish temple was destroyed, they were pining away for the old days when the high priest offered daily sacrifices in the temple. The author says they shouldn't feel sad. They no longer need a temple, sacrifices or priests because Jesus is all of these and more.
Mark 13:24-32
Bishop Untener’s Homily
The "End of the World"
There was a song in the sixties and I wonder if you remember it. I'll start it out and let's see if at least some of you can pick it up:
Why does the sun go on shining?
Why do the seas rush to shore? (Take it from there.)
Well, if you didn't get it, I'll go on and perhaps you will remember it.
Why does the sun go on shining?
Why do the seas rush to shore?
Don't they know it's the end of the world,
'cause you don't love me anymore.
Let's try the second part of the refrain:
Why do the birds go on singing?
Why do these eyes of mine cry? (Join in.)
Don't they know it's the end of the world,
it ended when you said good-bye.
That's called "apocalyptic language." It means using symbolic images to describe something. The song really isn't about the end of the world. It's about a young person whose "world ends" because a teen-age romance broke up.
Symbolically speaking, the "end of the world" happens a thousand ways. The world ends when a little boy's dog dies. The world ends when someone loses a job they need. The world ends when we experience a tragedy. The "end of the world" happens a thousand ways.
Jesus and the End of the World
In this Gospel passage, Jesus is talking about the end of the world - the real end of the world. In doing so he uses stock symbolic language for any divine intervention, at least it's "stock" for those who know the Old Testament. For example, the prophet Isaiah, 750 years before Christ, talks about the coming intervention of God against their enemy, Babylon. He says:
The stars and constellations of the heavens send forth no light. The sun is dark when it rises, and the light of the moon does not shine. (Isa 13:10)
Jesus uses this same kind of language. It's symbolic and we make a mistake when we take it literally.
What We Know About the End of the World
Let's look at the truths that lie beneath these symbolic words of Jesus in this passage, and what he said elsewhere. What do we know about the end of the world?
- No one knows when it will take place
First of all, we know what we don't know. We don't know when it will take place. Jesus was quite clear about this: no one knows but God the Father. None of the authors of any of the books of the Bible knew. The angels don't know. Jesus himself doesn't know. (People are sometimes surprised to hear him say that he doesn't know. But Jesus, as a human being, is like us in all things but sin. He didn't have eyes that could see the future.)
So, if anyone ever tells you that they know when the world will end, they're wrong. We have it from the lips of Jesus: No one knows but the Father. It could be a million, five million, or a billion years. We just don't know. - The universe, as we know it, will come to an end
Second, the universe, as we know it, will come to an end. Jesus is clear about that, and our constant tradition is clear about that.
Notice the phrase, "the universe as we know it." It doesn't mean that all creation will be thrown away. The bodily resurrection of Jesus is the beginning of this world going to God, to be there forever. We also teach that Mary was assumed bodily into heaven. Part of our world is already in eternity.
So, we shouldn't have a negative attitude toward creation. It will be transformed and become the reign of God. It has a destiny. We should always have a positive, optimistic view of creation, not a pessimistic one. - My human life, as I know it, will come to an end
Third, my human life, as I know it, will come to an end. This, in a sense, is the "end of the world" we're all are most concerned about. And, we know a little bit more about this one - at least we know that it's not a million years away. For example, I'm 63 years old, so it's very probable that it will happen in the next 20 to 30 years. And, of course, it could happen tomorrow.
Again, we're speaking of human life "aswe know it." We believe in the resurrection of the dead, which means that we will be full human beings, body and soul, transformed. - Whatever is good will last forever
Fourth and last (this is the one I want especially to emphasize), whatever is good will last forever.
The smallest act of love, even if unnoticed and unknown by anyone but me, is a precious jewel that will be part of the transformed universe forever and ever. As a matter of fact, the smallest act of love is one of the forces that helps to transform the universe.
When it comes to goodness, there is no death. Apparent death is really a birth. That's why our logo is the cross. Let evil forces do their worst to me. Goodness always lasts, and evil always dies.
Now that is good news. That can affect the way I spend a day, the way I spend a life. Just, do good, in whatever situation I'm in. It's as simple and beautiful as that. Jesus taught us to live that way. St. Therese, the Little Flower, lived that way. What a way to live.
Take Heart
The end of the world should never be something depressing, disheartening, frightening. It is the birth, the wondrous transformation of all that is good - in us, in others, in all creation.
God is more powerful than all the forces in the universe. God's goodness is greater than all the evil that ever existed or will exist. We're in the hands of a good and loving God. At every Mass, when the gifts are placed on the altar, we place ourselves there, and there is peace in our hearts, for we rest in the hands of God.
Don't let anybody scare you with end-of-the-world talk. It's about the birth of all that is good into eternity. I close with the words of Jesus in John's Gospel when he poured his heart out to his disciples on the night before he died: "All this I tell you, that my joy may be yours, and your joy may be complete."
Originally given on November 12, 2000