Sunday Reflection with Fr Robin Gibbons - 18 November

Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time

"Many of those who sleep
in the dust of the earth shall awake;
Some to everlasting life,
others to reproach and everlasting disgrace.

But those with insight shall shine brightly
like the splendour of the firmament,
And those who lead the many to justice
shall be like the stars forever." (Dn 12:2,3)

"I am glad you are here with me. Here at the end of all things, Sam." These are the words of Frodo to Sam in The Return of the King, as they both end their quest to return the `one' ring to the fire that forged it, in order to destroy it and its power forever. It is a haunting sentence for the iconography of Tolkien's trilogy wrestles with the battle between good and evil, dark and light, peace and war, cruelty and kindness in all kinds of settings. Whilst it is not to everybody's taste, the images resonate with most people because they pick up on the perennial questions of human existence and our values and translate them into powerful pictures for our imaginations.

We have this in the snippet from Daniel 12 about the Archangel Michael rising up at a time of unparalleled distress to wake the living and the dead into a new and everlasting life. We hear it in the Gospel of Mark where Jesus says: "In those days after that tribulation the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken'. (Mk 13:24)

The words of Frodo, 'here at the end of all things' resonate with these pictures' because they show us the end of all we have ever known. And yet, and yet, this is not the true end of all things! The word apocalypse has never meant the destruction of everything but rather the unveiling from a time of rawness and distress of a new order of things, a cosmic order of peace.

All these aspects of terror and distress herald change, the drum beat of Michael's armies of angels taps out the victory song of the resurrection, "Christ is Risen from the dead, trampling down death by death and to those in the grave he has given life!" Yes, it is a challenge to us, to think of the annihilation of all we know, but we also can sense this in our own lives, when as we do, we reach rock bottom from time to time, when everything has been turned upside down in a grief of loss, self esteem, standing, friendship. When as the great disciples of Jesus tell us, we learn that lesson of losing all.

But it does not end there, Apocalypse remember is an unveiling, a parting of the curtain between us and the love of God. We lose only to gain, we end only to start anew! And we are never alone: 'In the same way, when you see these things happening, know that he is near, at the gates". (Mk13: 29) Like Frodo, on that day at the end of all things, we shall be glad for 'He' is with us too; 'surely I am with you always to the very end of the age!"(Mt 28:20)

What then do we do? Look, listen and learn to see, hear and discern the signs of the times, to be vigilant and ready for the Son when he comes!

Lectio Divina

St Augustine
"He who loves the coming of the Lord is not he who affirms that it is far off, nor is it he who says it is near, but rather he who, whether it be far off or near, awaits it with sincere faith, steadfast hope, and fervent love."

Hymn
Hark, what a sound, and too divine for hearing, by Frederick WH Myers

Hark, what a sound, and too divine for hearing,
stirs on the earth and trembles in the air!
Is it the thunder of the Lord's appearing?
Is it the music of his people's prayer?

Surely he cometh, and a thousand voices
shout to the saints and to the deaf are dumb;
surely he cometh, and the earth rejoices,
glad in his coming who hath sworn, 'I come'.

This hath he done, and shall we not adore him?
This shall he do, and can we still despair?
Come let us quickly fling ourselves before him,
cast at his feet the burden of our care.
Yea, through life, death, through sorrow and through sinning
he shall suffice me, for he hath sufficèd:
Christ is the end, for Christ was the beginning,
Christ the beginning, for the end is Christ.

Fr Robin Gibbons is an Eastern Rite Catholic Chaplain for Melkites in the UK. He is also an Ecumenical Canon of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. See: www.indcatholicnews.com/news/35821