Build Yourselves Up

Build Yourselves Up

Saturday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time

The end of all things is at hand. 1 Peter 4:7

Early in the morning, as they were walking along, they saw the fig tree withered to its roots. Peter remembered and said to him, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered." Jesus said to them in reply, "Have faith in God. Amen, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it shall be done for him. Therefore I tell you, all that you ask for in prayer, believe that you will receive it and it shall be yours.  Mark 11:20-24

Piety

Oh, let all who thirst, let them come to the water

And let all who have nothing, let them come to the Lord

Without money, without price why should you pay the price,

Except for the Lord and let all who seek,

Let them come to the water and

Let all who have nothing,

Let them come to the lord without money, without strife

Why should you spend your life, except for the Lord!

(Come to the Water - John Foley S.J.)

Study

Growing up, I remember the black-and-white cartoons in The New Yorker.  “The

end is near,” read the sign in those David Sipress drawings.  He then would insert some pithy expression like: “Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”  Or perhaps, “Yes, but what are your goals?”

Friday’s first reading brought those cartoons to mind in a somber way because I knew I was headed to the funeral for a former colleague.  Fortunately, the readings for Bob Beggan’s Memorial Mass at Good Shepherd Catholic Church did not focus on the dire warning from Peter’s letter in the mass of the day.

Arise! Shine, for your light has come, the glory of the LORD has dawned upon you. (Isaiah 60:1)

We are a community much more aptly described as a “your light has come” community than a “the-end-is-at-hand” people. When the end comes, and it will invariably come, we must approach it in the spirit of the second letter of Timothy.

I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith.  From now on the crown of righteousness awaits me, which the Lord, the just judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but to all who have longed for his appearance. (2 Timothy 4:7-8) 

We do not wallow in the grief of “end-ness” but instead focus on every end being a new start.  Every ending is a chance to celebrate the past and rejoice in a future of boundless hope. We who carry on – the widow or widower, the children and family of the deceased, the friends -- must remain joined in love.

These sobering thoughts on these first rainy days of June, remind us that we will have trials by fire. We might have to chase the money lenders out of the temple.  We might be challenged to defend our faith by the interrogation of the scribes and the Pharisees.  However, in the day-by-day existence, we still have advice on getting through this rat race.  In fact, today’s reading is the last part of the last Epistle of the New Testament (before the Book of Revelation).  Fitting advice for the end of the literal teachings before the allegory of Revelation:

Build yourselves up in your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit.
Keep yourselves in the love of God
and wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ
that leads to eternal life.
On those who waver, have mercy;
save others by snatching them out of the fire;
on others have mercy with fear,
abhorring even the outer garment stained by the flesh. Jude 1:20B-23

Action

To whom can you offer continued love and support as they face the end personally or who has a family member facing serious illness?  Your action can give way to a deeper faith.  The assurance of your faith will comfort those who are going through an inevitable trial.