November 17, 2019

33^rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (C)

Vigilance—Minding our Own Business Before the Business of Others

Msgr. Thomas Gervasio

What the catechism calls “the last things”—death, judgment, heaven and hell and the end of the world are hardly enticing subjects for reflection. Yet the Church does not fail to bring them to our attention during the final days of the liturgical year. Today Our Lord’s prophecy on the end of the world is triggered by the comments people were making about the Temple of Jerusalem. It was truly a splendid structure, a source of great pride for the Jewish people. From a distance, its massive blocks of white stone made it appear as a snow capped mountain. Its solid columns of white marble were forty feet high. Its façade covered in gold plates glistened in the sun. The Temple’s most famous ornament was a great grape vine of solid gold. The clusters of grape alone were 5 to 6 feet high. It was unthinkable that this glorious House of God would be reduced to dust and so the Lord’s prophecy shocks his hearers. The temple was indeed destroyed by the Romans in the year 70.
 
The Lord continues his “tidings of trouble” by predicting signs that will accompany the end times: wars, insurrections, earthquakes, famines and plagues, awesome signs from the sky and the persecution of his disciples.
 
And yet isn’t it amazing that Our Lord says, even in light of these frightening omens, “Do not be terrified...not a hair on your head will be destroyed. By your perseverance you will secure your lives.” Jesus did not intend to provide a timetable for disaster but to issue a call to perseverance, to vigilance, to be in a state of “spiritual readiness” when the Lord should call us at the end of our earthly life or at His coming at the end of time.
 
The Church presents the “last things” not to frighten us, but to help us be vigilant about the state of our souls. The Church would not have us be anxious but have us journey through life like people in control, confident, and hope-filled.
 
How are we to live as vigilant Christians? How are we to be spiritually prepared to encounter the Lord? We certainly find the answers in the Gospels and in the Church’s teachings. Yet in today’s epistle, St. Paul offers one counsel that merits our attention. In essence he says: “Keep yourself busy and mind your own business.”
 
This is his second reminder to the Thessalonians. In his first letter he wrote: “Seek to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you.” (4:11) Minding our own business is an important aspect of being vigilant or being well prepared.
 
Consider our conversations. How often we talk about others, their money, what they do, what they buy. Other times we take it upon ourselves to meddle by thinking that we must tell others exactly what we think about their appearance, their words or actions. How easy it is for parents, albeit with the best of intentions, to mind the business of their married children, who have families of their own, by making critical comments. The reverse also occurs. Children meddle in their parents’ affairs. Sometimes close family ties embolden us to meddle in the affairs of our relatives. But we have to be careful that we don’t fall into the extreme attitude that we can never offer a correction or advice to another for their good. That would be important to do at times but we must always approach these matters with great prudence and charity.
 
Pope Francis said, “Too often we know what is happening in our neighborhood, what's going on in the next-door neighbor's house, but we don't know what's going on inside us.” Before we dare stick our nose into another’s affairs, before we feel the impulse to mind the business of others, we need to mind our own. We need first look at ourselves, we should examine our conscience.
 
In the end, we need to have our own house in order so that in the words of our psalm response we can “stand erect and raise our heads” when that all important moment comes...when we stand before the Lord, the just Judge.