With these readings that we hear we are told of the urgency of the end of time because our liturgical year is coming to a close. We are told of awful sights that will take place that will rip our world apart. We should easily be able to picture the destruction that is being referenced by thinking of the awful tragedy that took place in the Philippines. In these pictures and videos we are shown how a society once complete and functioning like our own was ripped into disarray. This disarray is the same that all of us have been infected with through sin. In Christ we are complete and made perfect, but with our trust placed in sin we are left in shambles. The glamour of sin shines brightly to the world and makes us believe that it will make us complete and feel happy. In reality this light that shines is not glamorous, but vile. Allowing it to take control of our life will only leave us torn apart like any modern day tragedy that we can conceive in our minds. Instead of being torn apart we are constantly desiring inside to be made complete.
We are always trying to find something that will make our life feel complete. In this pursuit for happiness we don't want to always work for this completeness, but would rather have it quickly handed over to us. Commercials that we find on television testify to this because if we are able to obtain a certain product we are promised of life changing results that will ensue in return. It does not take long for something else to then come along and catch our attention and make us believe that this product will be the one to finally deliver the results that we are in pursuit of. We often approach our faith with this same attitude. Instead of allowing our faith to be tested and we in return remain obedient to the truth; we attempt to design our own religion based solely on how it makes us feel. This attitude always leaves us in shambles as we hope to be made complete.
Our Gospel from Saint Luke is presenting to us how from the shambles of our own sin we will be made complete again through Christ and His Heavenly liturgy. At the beginning of this Gospel Jesus is telling how the temple in Jerusalem will be destroyed. From a firm building that once was the center of sacrifice and worship for the Jewish people would soon be left in utter shambles. Despite the shambles that eventually came about Christ throughout the Gospels promised that the temple would be rebuilt within three days. Following Christ's death and resurrection this would take place. In the past we needed the temple for sacrifice, but through the cross we were given a sacrifice that would be offered once and for all. None of the animals that had been sacrificed inside the temple had the effect upon the world as the one perfect sacrifice of Christ the Lamb. From the temple that would lie in shambles would come he was both God and man that gave the perfect witness to the world that we are all called to be made whole.
In sin we will constantly be torn away from this wholeness. In our sin and lack of trust of God we will always be left longing for something greater and yet always falling short. Instead of devoting ourselves totally to the truth of the Gospel, like those who were persecuted for their faith, we allow ourselves to be torn apart inside like each natural disaster that has destroyed our land. Instead of being left in shambles as if all alone we must remember that the temple has been destroyed and with it Christ continues to invite us into perseverance with him. We are called to take each sin that plagues our soul and bring them to our Lord for healing. We are called upon to take each struggle that we encounter with our family or friends and offer them to Christ. Instead of feeling as if our life is inadequate we will find all we will ever need to become whole with Christ. When we experience a great joy Christ desires to be allowed in and when we are lost and looking for answers Christ will give us guidance.
For us here at this Heavenly Liturgy we take all of these prayers, fears, joys, and sacrifices and join them to Christ who is the Son of justice who pours his healing rays upon us. With all that we gather we come here to this Mass to be made whole. In this Church we desire to join ourselves to Christ who is the new temple as we attempt to find meaning to all the things of this world that have left us in shambles. May we not fear to continue to join with Christ at Calvary as we bring all the pains that have destroyed our life and ripped it apart. At this Mass we encounter Heaven on earth may we not take these mysteries lightly, but instead fully allow ourselves to join with the sacrifice that will unfold. The Church year is truly coming to a close and one day we know our own life will end, but Christ comforts us here through His sacrifice upon the cross. We have a longing that exists inside of our hearts to be made complete, but will only be able to find this completeness through our relationship with Christ. May we allow our lives to be secured through our perseverance in this sacred liturgy because only here can we be made complete and truly come to join ourselves to Christ.
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