The 33rd Sunday of the Year
Mal 3:19-20; 1 Thes 3:7-12; Lk 21:5-19 (year c)
‘The Lord comes, he comes to rule the earth. He will rule the world with justice and the peoples with fairness.” The psalm reminds us that time, both for the individual and for the world as we know it, is not infinite. We are caught up in time’s relentless movement, which has as its centre the coming of Christ and as its conclusion his triumphal return at the end of time.
As the Church’s liturgical year draws to an end, the Scriptures invite us to consider our own lives against this scenario. We whose lives are dominated by everyday happenings are understandably reluctant to consider their meaning and ending in Christ. For Malachi, and other Old Testament prophets, this ending of time was described as the Day of the Lord, a day of judgment and revelation. A day of judgment, because on that day the arrogance of evil would be burnt as stubble in the furnace. A day of revelation, because on that day the sun of righteousness would reveal the just in its healing rays.
