29 November 2024 - Friday of the 34th even-numbered week
Rev 20, 1-4.11; Luke 21, 29-33
Homily
Since the beginning of the week, each day we have read a section of Jesus' long eschatological discourse, according to Luke's version, the conclusion of which we have today.
If we were to transpose this apocalyptic discourse of Jesus into today's geopolitical context, just as Luke and the other Evangelists transposed it into their own context, we would have something like this:
‘ Weapons of mass destruction will multiply. Those who possess them in large quantities will wage war against those who wish to obtain them. Entire nations will be terrorised in the fight against terrorism. We will create economic crises from which the strong will recover fairly quickly, leaving the weak in misery -- to maintain their privileges. A third of humanity will suffer chronic hunger. Developed countries will close their borders to emigrants from poor countries, while keeping these countries poor by exploiting their human and material resources. New diseases will invade humanity and the trade in fear will allow some people to get rich. There will be no more oil, no more drinking water. People will kill each other to grab the last reserves. And the list could go on.
But the conclusion of the speech would be the same: ‘Then, precisely then, in the very heart of this chaos - this chaos that we have created and from which we could only hope for death and destruction - in the heart of this chaos, stand up straight and raise your heads, for your salvation is at hand. What gives meaning to all this talk is not a cry of despair, but a cry of hope.
You will see the ‘Son of Man’ coming in the cloud with great power and glory. The expression ‘Son of Man’ has several overlapping and complementary meanings in the New Testament. The expression is sometimes used to designate the Messiah, God who became man and therefore took on the whole of humanity. But the expression primarily refers to man as such, in his very humanity. This faith in the appearance of the ‘ Son of Man in all his power and glory ’ is faith in man, in humanity itself, as it was created by God in his image, and as it was saved from its own sin by the Son of God who redeemed it entirely by taking it on.
What this cry of hope contains is faith in humanity and the hope that, by allowing itself to be transformed by the Christ who has invaded it, it will gradually free itself from its sin, from its self-destructive tendency, and come to its full realisation, to its full transformation. This will happen when the divine seed sown in her has reached its full flowering.
When Jesus says: ‘ your salvation is near “, or ” the kingdom of God is near “, he does not mean ” it is coming “ or ” it is approaching ’. No. He means that it is near, just as when he said: ‘ The kingdom of heaven is among you “ - or ” it is within you ’. This is what we will be celebrating during the season of Advent, and throughout the Christmas season. - And this is what we are celebrating in this Eucharist today.
Armand Veilleux