Homily for 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time 2010

Sanctity of Life Sunday

I forget how many times I have heard people say "Why does God allow evil?" It is a recurring question. In the Gospel today, we hear Jesus say quite clearly that God is not going to intervene, at least, not yet! All the tragedies and disasters of life and all the disappointments and frustrations of every day remain. And there are many of those.

The teaching of the Church about things like abortion, euthanasia, and the like, do hinge on our belief that salvation and justice are not to be found only in this present time. People do suffer indiscriminately in this life without them finding justice. So it is difficult to convince non believers of our moral position as it implies a future beyond this life.

Even so, Jesus warns his disciples that they should not be taken in by false messiahs announcing the end or even a solution to life's problems. There will be wars and rumours of war. People will suffer amidst it all. That much we know is true. We see it all the time. But with faith we believe that it is God who is in charge. Because of that we are not afraid. We do fear God. But we are not afraid with the fear we might experience in a horror movie. To fear God in that way would be blasphemy.

The fear we have of God is a reverential awe before a reality that is so much bigger than we are. A reality that is incomprehensible to us especially in the holiness that is revealed through God's compassion. For the prophet Malachi the same fire which would burn the arrogant and evil doers will be a healing fire for the righteous. "But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness will shine out with healing in its rays" (Malachi 3:20).

God does not exist just to serve me and solve all my problems. God's view is so much bigger than what I could imagine. The liturgy at this time of year leading into Advent tries to help us see that bigger vision of God. There is a reality beyond what we can see. There is a future beyond tomorrow. There is a salvation in God from our problems much better than any of our quick fixes in the present time might be.

Yet we do not live as if the world is coming to an end tomorrow. We do not shirk the responsibilities that life brings. That was what Paul is trying to get the Thessalonians to see. They seemed to think that Christ was coming again in glory very soon in their lifetime. They thought that because the end is so soon there was little use doing anything productive. Paul tells them how wrong they are. Even if the end were to be tomorrow we still live fully embracing God's gift of life to us

Fr Graham