READINGS: Dan 12:1-3; Psa 16:5.8.9-10.2.11; Heb 10:11-14.8; Mark 13:24-32
THEME: Where will You be ‘After’ the Tribulation?
- There will be an ‘After’
We are gradually approaching the end of the church’s liturgical year and the readings of today, especially the first and the gospel reading, speak of the end of time.
The thirteenth chapter of Mark’s gospel is strongly decorated with instructions regarding the end time and the activities that will indicate such as, the end time for the temple and abuse of God’s name (Mk 13:1-8); the persecution of the believers (Mk 13:9-13), catastrophic nature of things (Mk 13:14-23).
Such prophecies from Jesus seemed to be terrific to his disciples who were listening to him. As a matter of fact, they could not hide their fear, so they asked him, “Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign that all these things are about to be accomplished?” (Mk 13:3-4) Not only that God’s name will be used as a bait for the believers by the evil one, but that the holy temple will be destroyed and the believers persecuted.
Hence, there will be a very hard time for those who believe in God. As this perplexing situation of the disciples was on the increase, Jesus brought a consolation to them, as we read in today’s gospel, assuring them that there will be a ‘nach’ a ‘danach’ an ‘after’ (cf Mk 13:24).
This ‘after’ will be greater than what will befall the disciples because it will be the arrival of the Son of Man, who will come with great power and glory (Mk 13:26).
The coming of the Son of Man at the ‘afterwards’ of the great persecution will be marked with restoration because all his elect will be gathered from wherever they have been scattered.
Hence, the disciples are not to be terrified on the events of persecution nor give up on their hope but remain focused and fix their mind on the ‘after’ which will be a glorious end of the persecution and glorious visitation of the Son of Man, a visitation that will be for restoration.
Dearest in Christ, this is a consolation of Jesus to us, his followers. No matter the persecution or whatever that we suffer, there will be an end, there will be an ‘after’.
And Jesus wants us to go through those trying moments, with hope and anticipation of the arrival of the great Son of Man. Jesus wants us to focus, not on what we suffer because we are his followers but on his eventual arrival, and restoration.
- When will this ‘after’ be?
Just like the disciples who inquired from Jesus about the ‘when’ of the great persecution, we can as well ask ‘when will be the ‘after’ of the suffering, what will be the sign? Jesus himself assures his disciples that ‘this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place.’
No matter how long the suffering might last, there must be the arrival of the Son of Man, the time of glorious restoration. No matter how long the night might be, morning is on the way and must eventually arrive.
No matter how long a pregnancy lasts, there must eventually be delivering time. Yes…the night may be long, flourishing in darkness, filling the eyes with tears, weeping may also linger throughout the night, but be assured that morning will joy and it will come with its joy (cf Psalm 30:5). No matter how strong the winter cold may be, the summer sun and heat will eventually arrive at its time.
But before that summer sun that will bring the smiling day already as early as 5am, we have to be patient and pass through the wintertime with its cold and darkness.
Dearest in Christ, Jesus assures us that before ever our generation ceases to be on earth, it must have experienced the divine visitation and restoration.
Whatever suffering we are passing through now may be a preparation for God’s blessing to our generations. Sometimes we may no longer be there or be alive to see this restoration, but our generation will be its beneficiary when it eventually comes.
- Who is a beneficiary of God’s visitation and restoration
Both the first reading and the Gospel speak of the divine visitation and restoration. In the gospel reading, Jesus says that when the Son of Man comes, “he will send out his angels so that they gather his elect from the four winds, and from the ends of the earth and ends of heaven” (Mk 13:27).
Yes, there will be a gathering but not all will be gathered and be brought to the Son of Man but only his elect, that is, those who survive the persecution, those who remained steadfast during the persecution. In the first reading, after that time, angel Michael will be sent as deliverer. However, the only people who will be delivered are those who are written in the book (cf Dan 12:1).
Hence, in both readings, there will surely be a divine visitation to all. But what each person receives will be based on one’s steadfastness, faithfulness, and persistence in things of God, during the time of persecution.
In the book of Daniel, even those who are already sleeping in the dust of the earth, that is to say, those who are already dead, will be part of that divine visitation. But whereas some will rise to everlasting life, some others will rise to shame and everlasting contempt (cf Dan 12:2).
The question is, ‘when it is time for divine visitation, will he find us waiting for him even in the midst of our suffering and persecution?’ That we face suffering, and all kinds of persecution is not enough to merit us God’s restoration. Our guarantee of a God’s restoration is our steadfastness in bearing the flag of Christ throughout the trying and suffering times.
When faced with troubles of life, we have to be patient in prayer, waiting for God’s time. In the second reading, we are told that even Christ, the Eternal Priest, was patient, waiting for the time when his enemies will be made a footstool for his feet (cf Heb 10:13). But until then,
he continued to sit at the right hand of God (cf Heb 10:12). In the same way, we are called to sit at the right hand of God, and never to depart from it, no matter how hard life is, until God subdues our enemies for us.
May God give us grace never to depart from his right hand, even when faced by the greatest form of persecution, living constantly in the hope that when the time comes, God will visit us to restore us. Amen.
Rev. Fr. Henry Chukwuezugo Nnamah
Catholic Diocese of Aguleri, Nigeria.