28 November 2025 – Friday of the 34th odd week
Homily
Since the beginning of the week, we have been reading each day a section of Jesus' long eschatological discourse, according to Luke's version, which we conclude today.
If we wanted to transpose this apocalyptic discourse of Jesus into the current 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 on those who wish to obtain them. Entire nations will be terrorized in order to fight terrorism. Economic crises will be created, from which the strong will recover fairly quickly, leaving the weak in misery - in order to maintain their privileges. A third of humanity will suffer from chronic hunger. Developed countries will close their borders to immigrants from poor countries, while keeping those countries in poverty by exploiting their human and material resources. New diseases will invade humanity, and the trade in fear will allow some to become rich. There will be no more oil, no more drinking water. Men 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 expect death and destruction - in the heart of this chaos, stand up and raise your heads, for your salvation is near." What gives meaning to this whole speech is not a cry of despair, but a cry of hope.
You will see the ‘Son of Man’ coming in the clouds with great power and glory. The expression ‘Son of Man’ has several meanings in the New Testament that overlap and complement each other. The expression is sometimes used to refer to the Messiah, God who became man and thus took on the whole of humanity. But the expression refers first and foremost 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 created by God in his image, and as saved from its own sin by the Son of God who redeemed it entirely by taking it upon himself.
What this cry of hope contains is faith in humanity and the hope that, by allowing itself to be transformed by Christ who has invaded it, it will gradually free itself from its sin, from its self-destructive tendency, and achieve its full realization, its full transformation. This will come about when the divine seed sown in it has reached its full blossoming.
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 clearly says 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 celebrate during Advent, which begins the day after tomorrow, and throughout the Christmas season. And this is what we celebrate first and foremost in today's Eucharist.
Armand Veilleux