Do you remember the day last April when the Notre Dame Cathedral was so badly damaged by fire? We all looked on with horror and gasped as the spire collapsed into the roof. Was the entire cathedral lost? It was a great relief to learn days later that much of the interior had been spared and the walls were still intact, for the most part. For those of us who have visited this magnificent cathedral, it was a time of great sadness and a feeling of tremendous loss.
This experience can give us a sense of the feelings that the apostles must have had when they heard Jesus declare about their beloved temple: “All that you see here – the days will come when there will not be left a stone upon another stone,” as we hear in today’s Gospel. After all, the Notre Dame is just one of several magnificent churches around the world but the Temple was the only place where the ancient Jews could come and worship their God and it was probably the most spectacular building in all of ancient Israel.
You and I would be very upset to hear such words spoken about our own parish church, cathedral or our favorite shrine. People have sacrificed much to build these places of worship. It’s easy to get attached to them. The people who were present with Jesus were attached to their temple and all its magnificence. But Jesus admonished them not to be too attached to these physical structures. They would come to an end. Instead, Jesus was saying that people should focus on what is of long-lasting, in fact, eternal value. What is truly important is beyond this world.
Time was short for Jesus – he made these comments about the temple just days before he was to be crucified – and he knew that time was short for the people of Jerusalem. In fact, when St. Luke wrote his gospel just a few decades after our Lord’s death and resurrection, the Temple had already been destroyed. Jesus’ prediction had, in fact, already come to pass.
As we approach the end of our liturgical year, we hear Jesus telling people in his time that even the most revered place in their lives – the very temple itself – would come to an end. Not only that, but “nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. There will be powerful earthquakes, famines and plagues; and awesome sights and mighty signs will come from the sky” we hear Jesus foretell.
These ominous words of Jesus bring to mind images and memories for us even today. How many places in recent times have been ravaged by hostile armies, or by terrible acts of nature – earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, fires and floods? Awesome sights and mighty signs have come down from the sky. These events were expected to signal the coming of the end times. If that were literally the case, how many times throughout history could humankind have anticipated the immanent end of this world? But, “Do not be terrified,” Jesus assures us, “for such things must happen first, but it will not immediately be the end.”
It’s 2,000 years later and we are still here. The end has not yet come. But, we need to prepare for the end- both the end of our lives and the end of time, when our Lord will return. And, in the meantime, we are called to listen to what St. Paul has to say in today’s second reading. Paul wrote this letter to the Christian community in Thessalonica just a few years after Christ’s death and resurrection and many of his followers thought that he would return tomorrow afternoon or maybe next week. So, they weren’t working and were even getting in the way of others who were. Paul writes that some were “not keeping busy but minding the business of others.” Paul makes it very clear that we should all continue to work, just as he did as a tentmaker. We all have work to do, at home, at work, in our neighborhood. And, what is the most important work that we should be about? Building up the kingdom of God in our midst, just as Paul was doing.
In the first reading, from the Book of the Prophet Malachi, we find great encouragement as we do this work. We read that “…for you who fear my name, there will arise the sun of justice with its healing rays.” Malachi is foretelling the coming of Jesus in time and at the end of time.
Beginning with the time of Jesus’ ministry and down to our day, there is the challenge for his followers to recognize the limited purpose of the structures that underpin their lives, whether it be churches or governments or even their own homes or businesses. Someday, all of these earthly temples will come down. And, in their wake, something greater, something of everlasting quality is being built up. Through the presence of Jesus in his people, temples of the Spirit are being built up for eternity. Remember, through baptism, we become temples of the Holy Spirit.
Earthquakes, fires, and floods, famines and plagues; mistaken people – even of good will – get confused and alarmed. But, nothing can harm us if we focus on preparing for everlasting life. God in his mercy will see us through all of these times and will lead those of us who remain faithful into his eternal kingdom, which will never be destroyed. Let us heed this important message and, filled with hope, continue to go about building up God’s kingdom here on earth until the day when he calls us to his eternal kingdom in heaven.