First reading: Mal. 3:19–20a

Lo, the day is coming, blazing like an oven, when all the proud and all evildoers will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set them on fire, leaving them neither root nor branch, says the LORD of hosts. But for you who fear my name, there will arise the sun of justice with its healing rays.

Second reading: 2 Thes. 3:7–12

Brothers and sisters: You know how one must imitate us. For we did not act in a disorderly way among you, nor did we eat food received free from anyone. On the contrary, in toil and drudgery, night and day we worked, so as not to burden any of you. Not that we do not have the right. Rather, we wanted to present ourselves as a model for you, so that you might imitate us. In fact, when we were with you, we instructed you that if anyone was unwilling to work, neither should that one eat. We hear that some are conducting themselves among you in a disorderly way, by not keeping busy but minding the business of others. Such people we instruct and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to work quietly and to eat their own food.

Gospel: Lk. 21:5–19

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.

“Before all this happens, however, they will seize and persecute you, they will hand you over to the synagogues and to prisons, and they will have you led before kings and governors because of my name. It will lead to your giving testimony. Remember, you are not to prepare your defense beforehand, for I myself shall give you a wisdom in speaking that all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute. You will even be handed over by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends, and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name, but not a hair on your head will be destroyed. By your perseverance you will secure your lives.”

In other words 

Fr. Magdaleno Fabiosa, SVD (Holy Name University, Tagbilaran City, Bohol)

A few years ago, with some generous lay people, we organized a Christmas party for some children from a squatters’ area two blocks away from our Center House in Cebu. Through our contacts, who lived in the area, we were able to come up with a list of around 100 children aged from 3 to 6 years old. They organized parlor games and a Christmas song contest, and we prepared a meal that they would remember for days. 

During the meal, I walked around to talk shop with the kids. I noticed a four-year-old boy who did not consume his meal. I asked him why. He answered that he was keeping it for his older brother who was not included in the list because he was already seven years old. I felt like crying for such selflessness in a child coming from a squatters’ area. Two tables away, I noticed the same thing, this time two sisters aged 4 and 5 years old. Asked why they did not finish their meal, they answered, “Para po its kay Nanay, Father, para makatikim din siya ng masarap na pagkain.” (We want to share some of this tasty food with our mother.) This time I could not hold back my tears. That afternoon, I witnessed grace shining through the darkness of poverty; it was like a streak of sunlight amid a dark, cloudy sky.

What have these two experiences to do with today’s Gospel? Allow me to make the connection. Jesus wants that we have a balanced view regarding the fact that this world will end. But the gospels are equally clear that Jesus does not share the concerns of doomsday prophets who scare people about the events connected with the end time and the inevitable question of when that end time will come. 

Jesus teaches us that the balanced view comes from (1) not hiding from the reality that we will all face our end, whether the world ends in our lifetime or not; and (2) to keep in mind that how we live our lives in the present world matters because the kind of life we will have in the next depends on how we live ours today. This means that our eternity starts now. This is the challenge Jesus poses to us in today’s Gospel.

We respond to this challenge by putting into practice what Jesus asked us to do; that is, to do his will and to love him in our neighbors, letting our hearts bleed for our neighbors in need. Even amid poverty and tragedy, the gospel value of concern and love for others can be lived as the children have shown in the experience I shared.