Please read the passage before the homily.
Our reading is from a part of Mark’s gospel that we can call apocalyptic. The description of events is final, strong, and violent. The Judgment is black or white, with nothing in between. The rest of our lives are grey, shifting between black and white and their shades.
Apocalyptic is like voting, for one or the other, never for both; life is like running for office. Apocalyptic is like a true-false test; life is like an essay test. Apocalyptic is like the judge’s decision in a trial; life is like the investigation of a crime. Apocalyptic is what is as opposed to what is becoming. Fall is harvest like the Apocalyptic, and spring is growth like life.
Birth and death are both ends. Birth is the end of gestation, when the baby enters the light of day. Death is the birth of life without end. Just as birth ends out time in the womb, so death is the beginning of life in heaven.
Heaven and earth will pass away, but God’s word will never pass away. If God’s word is in us, then we shall never pass away.
We are preparing to harvest crops. The year is drawing to a close. Rain will turn to snow, warmth to chill, hot to cold. Winter will be here in another month. The weather is changing, we are changing, our lives are changing. In one sense we live in an Apocalyptic age, but in another sense, God continues to call us to follow Christ as he continues to move among his people.
He will lead us through the turmoil and struggles of our life on earth and escort us through the end time into the eternal now of heaven.