Ordinary 33

The Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time

Malachi 3:19-20a; Psalm 98; 2 Thessalonians 3:7-12; Luke 21:5-19

Do you find yourself emotionally exhausted these days? Are you feeling hopeless? Do you have feelings of fear? Are you expressing anger and impatience more than usual with people? Have you already been thinking about how you will maneuver Thanksgiving Day conversations so that the dinner doesn’t explode with arguing?

Many people I believe have such feelings, myself included. We have been bombarded by another bitter election season with the 2024 election cycle to begin any day. We are witnessing the images of the Ukrainian war, famine in Yemen and Somalia, wildfires from California to Australia. We are worrying about gas prices, school shootings, violence and climate change as well as the rancor over abortion, gender, and what books should be read in school and allowed on library shelves. And all this dividing us in so many ways. How can we not be exhausted?

The Scripture does not seem helpful as Malachi speaks of a destructive day coming with a blazing fire. Paul writes about people unwilling to work and mooching off others. Jesus speaks about the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple; warns of individuals rising up to deceive people with lies; and all this wrapped up with the bow of wars and insurrections, famines, plagues, earthquakes and for the individual follower hate, arrest, trial and persecution.

People may ask: “Where is God in these events? Why isn’t God acting? Ultimately, is there a God worth believing in?

Can we understand why anyone would ask such questions? Have not some of us asked these questions in the dark corners of our souls? The asking of such questions is not a mark of a lack of trust in God but rather the human situation crying out for justice. Such cries for justice are strewn throughout the Psalms and Hebrew scriptures. Is it not the definitive cry of humanity down to our own day?

The Psalm Response might ring a little hollow, “The Lord comes to rule the earth with justice”. “The Lord comes?” When will God arrive? Why does God delay?

What is most difficult in the spiritual life is that God will be God as God is. God’s hand cannot and will not be forced into action. It is God who acts; we respond. And God will arrive when and as God so chooses. What can we do? It is called Advent. Advent is not just a liturgical season of the Christian Church which precedes Christmas but rather an entire way of living that is rooted in patient waiting; waiting upon God to act.

The problem is we want to get going. We want to get there. We want it now! Amazon Prime. Overnight. If not later today? That is not the spiritual life. The spiritual life is more like the fermenting process for good, choice, rich wine. The process, the relationship cannot be rushed. This of course counters our culture and our human nature. The spiritual life is encountering God on God’s turf and it can be very frustrating. Unless, we are willing to live in the ‘advent’.

Paul tells some moochers in the Thessalonian community to stop being busy bodies and to work quietly. The angels at the Ascension asked the disciples, “Why are you standing there looking up at the sky?”  Jesus will come back but in the meantime get to work. Luke, “Stand erect and raise your heads…”

The motto of the Benedictine Order may be helpful here: ‘ora et labora’ – ‘pray and work’. It succinctly speaks of a balanced way of life. How else is a Christian to live and maneuver through these dense, dividing and difficult times? What does it mean to wait in a spirit of the Advent? How is that different than other forms of waiting?

Anxiety marks our age. It is why we are emotionally exhausted and spiritually tired. Why we snap at people, blame people and can’t have a conversation with someone who thinks differently than we do. Advent waiting teaches us patience. We all know about a watched pot and boiling.

The anxiety, exhaustion, anger and division all around us seem to suggest that we need to listen and dialogue more as a path to healing. But dialogue stands on a foundation of trust and good faith – both wanting in our society and church today. Maybe we need to talk less and do more together, that is, quietly work and not be busy bodies; stop looking for God to intervene instead of being aware of where God is already present in our daily life and the people placed along our pathway.

What we might need to do more with each other: preparing family meals, playing board games, raking the leaves, baking, volunteering, listening to a snow fall, rain or the wind, gardening, reading a book, reading a book to your children, reading a book to your spouse, doing laundry or the dishes together, or taking a quiet walk with someone. All these mundane activities are avenues for God to enter our lives with calm, peace and solace.

Do you remember the disciples on the way back to Emmaus? They are our patrons in this age. They were frustrated, arguing, distraught, and hopeless like we are. It was in the midst of that walk that Jesus was present.

Their walk teaches us how to walk in a spirit of ‘advent’. Advent is the way of life that our culture and church need more than any other. It will not be easy. Too many people will take us to trial for living and thinking differently. But Jesus promised to give us the few words we will need. Quietly working. Doing activates together. Balancing prayer and work. Waiting. Trust me all that seems to be assaulting our lives and spirit will fade away. And that’s when, like the disciples on the way to Emmaus we will recognize God’s presence among us coming with justice.