Would you rather be stubble in a blazing oven, or experience the healing rays of the sun of justice? Would you rather try to predict your last day on earth, or live each day without anticipating the future? These are all comparisons that are made in the Scriptures for the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, and if we’re not careful we might believe that God is making the choice, rather than offering us a choice.
Jesus was a great storyteller and teacher. He used images from daily life so that people could imagine how His teaching applied to their own lives. This Gospel passage uses the image of the stones of the temple being taken down so that not one stone remained upon another. As you can see in the Gospel, that image caught people’s attention. Who did Jesus think He was to anticipate the destruction of the temple that took so long to build and seemed so sturdy? He used that image of total destruction to wake up the people of His time. He was offering what the chosen people had been anticipating for so long: hope for the future and the fulfillment of the promise of God. The problem was that He didn’t act like or sound like the kind of Messiah they expected.
We know that each day presents choices between life and death. Some of the choices are huge and have ultimate consequences but most often the choices are gradual, ordinary, simple and sometimes habitual choices that lead to either life or death. The Scriptures this weekend try to awaken us to the choices that are a part of our lives. So let’s take some time to examine the choices that fill our lives.
How often do you live in the past or the future, rather than the present moment? How much of your life is filled with regret or anxiety? Are you able to stay present to the people that are in front of you? Are you conscious of how you fill your day? How often do you find yourself talking like you’re a victim rather than taking charge of your own life? How often do you experience loneliness and isolation but fail to make the choices to connect yourself in healthy, honest and holy relationships? Are you still convinced that possessions can make you happy? Are you still trying to prove to God that you’re worthy? Do you live your spiritual life looking for signs and wonders, or do you live day by day out of a trust in God and a reliance on God’s promises?
Each day is filled with its own share of joys and sorrows. We have opportunities to love in a sacrificial way or to selfishly cling to our established way of life. For most of us who live our comfortable and convenient lives, perseverance is not our strongest virtue. We try something for a while, too often not long at all, and give up when we don’t see immediate results. The daily practice of perseverance involves standing solidly on the foundation of God’s promises rather than on what we see right in front of us. When God’s promises are secure within us, then we notice more often the things of our daily lives to be grateful for and the gifts that we are given every day. The virtue of perseverance is built one moment at a time, through faithfulness and trust.
As we draw near to the end of another liturgical year, we are invited to take stock of our current lives. What would you like to become more aware of in yourself? Where would you like to become more like Jesus? How will you do that moment by moment, day by day?
Father Wester is pastor of All Saints Parish in St. Peters.