32 Week in Ordinary Time, Friday, November 16,2006

2 John 4-9. Psalm 119:1.2. 10.11.17.18. Luke 17:23-37:

The long journey of Luke's narrative which begun already in chapter nine is coming to an end. We have been disciples along the way up to Jerusalem, and now as the Church's year in the liturgy is coming to an end we will be starting anew with Jesus at his coming into time. We never forget that there are according to the early Church theologians three comings of Christ--the Word's proceeding from the Father and Spirit from all eternity; the birth of Jesus, the Word becoming flesh by being born of Mary, and the final return of Jesus as the Lord of history. Luke is leading us as disciples through the final trek of the journey and soon we will be hearing of the endtime as he narrates what Mark has already done in his apocalyptic chapter 13.

How can we live with the threatening news from the Gospels about the endtime? These are called the eschatological themes of the Scriptures and we live through them by realizing that there are different insights offered by the Evangelists. We take courage and have great hope in what Jesus is telling us,namely to be prepared for the endtime by living fully our lives in the present in union with God and those who have gone before us with the sign of faith. We have a reading that helps us to understand that the presence of the Lord is always here, always near through our faith and our love for one another. The reading from the second letter of John reminds of the Fourth Evangelist's theological perspective called "realized eschatology." We live the Christ's life now and this will be the same in eternity in a transformed manner where there will be no more tears, no more fears, no more killings. We have from John's writings the great mystery of the Incarnation already given in the Prologue in verse 14 of chapter 1. "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us." This is the most Incarnational statement in the whole of the Bible. We are able to enter into the profound meaning of that verse by our faith in the very person of Jesus and by our total loving commitment to his commandment of love (agape). This helps us to live in realized eschatology which also means bringing this to each new day and taking it to each day, one at a time. Jesus lives in us now and will do so as he comes a second time into our history. Living within such a perspective we are hopeful and not afraid of death nor of the endtime. Christ for us Christians is the center of time and the salvation of all persons past, present, and to come. Yes, Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Amen.