The Call to Faithfulness

Reflections on the Readings for the Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time

by Fr. Earl A.P. Valdez

Truth be told, whenever I hear a prophecy or a speculation of when and how the world will end, I find myself amused over the lengths that people will do math and conjure images of how the Lord’s “second coming” will come. I lived through the times when people were fearful of the Y2K bug, in which the supposed reset of digital calendars would cause worldwide malfunction. I also went through the bizarre phenomenon of fear over the year 2012, when it was said that the prophecy of the Ancient Mayan civilization would happen. 

However, it’s already the year 2025, and the most apparent events that we ought to fear were ironically dismissed or just abandoned, like global warming and the effects of unchecked development, specifically in the field of artificial intelligence. Funny enough, these are already backed by studies and reflected upon by people from different disciplines, and yet these are things that we dismiss and disregard!

Both of these, however, say something about a sentiment that resides in each of us: a fear of change. Perhaps what is at the base of all our anxiety for the end times would be exactly the fear that what we have at present would be turned to dust, and we will have to finally face the end not just of our precious possessions, but also our own lives. In fact, one can just equate it to the fear of death that we have, for what difference does it have with the end times, except that it is not just one person who will have to face death and be judged, but everybody? 

Our readings this Sunday touch on this fear of uncertainty that is within us. The prophecy of Malachi induces fear to those who were unjust and who profited from the misery of others; he somehow says that there will be an end to injustice (an important note for all of us at this point, while we suffer and complain about poor governance!), and that the rays of God’s justice would come to His people.

But this is all the more deepened when Our Lord Himself prophesied that in His coming, those who were faithful to Him will face persecution; however, the ones who remain faithful will secure their lives. 

Barely reading the lines of the Gospel perhaps would bring about this anxious feeling for the end times; however, a careful reading would tell us otherwise. As we read the Old Testament within the lens of the New Testament, we see that the justice of God comes in the form of Christ, who gave us new life and showed the justice of God precisely in the form of mercy, calling all to conversion and accountability. And since the Gospels were written during the time of the persecution of Christians, their reality would be attested. 

However, if we stop there, we perhaps have failed to actually understand their point. Behind these prophecies, one thing remains: the call to faithfulness.

The prophet Malachi and Our Lord call us toward one thing: that at the end of days, what will reign is the Lord’s mercy and His love for His people.

The rays of God’s justice that shine in and through His mercy surpasses every prophecy of death and destruction, giving us new life. And whether they truly happen or not, these are reminders for us to live as faithful disciples. 

Judgment Day. by Michelangelo. The point of all apocalyptic art is that as it was in the beginning, now, and ever shall be, the Christian’s life is oriented on Christ as its center and foundation.

This explains why, in the second reading, we see St. Paul, in the language of the youth today, being quite “chill” about it. He urges us “to work quietly and to eat [our] own food.” It does not mean that we should be completely indifferent to what is happening around us and how we are affected by events (like how Ancient Stoics have acted, according to the present advocates of a so-called “Stoic lifestyle” that seemed to be far from what Stoics actually were, but that’s beside the point); neither should we just lock ourselves up and be concerned only with our own worries. 

Rather, it means that we continue to be faithful to the Lord in our everyday lives. It means trusting that whatever happens, Our Lord will lead us to where He wants us to be.

It is remaining to be faithful to Him in our everyday lives, keeping our habits of prayer, allowing ourselves to be transformed and to respond to the call to goodness and holiness.

It is taking the path of constant conversion and doing what we need to advance peace, justice, and sustainability in our little and great ways. That neither eliminates nor cancels change, for the reality of the world remains in this cycle, but faithfulness in the Lord allows us to see them in a new light and gives us a new way of understanding and acting upon things that happen to us.

This is how we continue to live, knowing that many things around us will change, and that while we do not know how the world will end, we ourselves experience various ends and beginnings in our lives, most of them being totally unexpected. Christ, however, comes as the one who conquers all these fears and anxieties, only on the condition that we entrust ourselves to Him and respond to the call of everyday discipleship. Thus, given the small and great changes in our lives that cause us the least bit of anxieties and worries, we ask for the grace that we be able to face them with much faith in the Lord.