The joy of endings

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B, 17 November 2024
Daniel 12:1-3 ><}}}}*> Hebrews 10:11-14, 18 ><}}}}*> Mark 13;24-32

We are now at the penultimate Sunday of our Church calendar ending on the Solemnity of Christ the King next week to usher in the four Sundays of Advent before Christmas. That is why every 33rd Sunday, we hear Jesus speaking about the end of everything to usher in new beginnings in Him.

Jesus said to his disciples: “In those days after that tribulation the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in the clouds’ with great power and glory, and then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the end of the earth to the end of the sky” (Mark 13:24-27).

After spending a day of teaching at the Temple wherein the Twelve were so impressed with its beauty, Jesus warned them of its impending destruction, explaining it further as they proceeded to rest on Mount of Olives overlooking Jerusalem below with the magnificent Temple.

No, Jesus was not a “KJ” at all.

Jesus was simply telling His disciples including us today of life’s natural cycles of endings and beginnings. Actually, long before Jesus came, people have always been preoccupied with thoughts of the “end of the world” – with or without God – which persist to these days.

Jesus reminds us this Sunday that indeed, the world is going to end but, it is not just a catastrophic end destroying everything. It is an end with a direction, to God and eternal life. It is an end we have to joyously await and prepare for as a new beginning in Jesus Christ.

“Learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branch becomes tender and sprouts leaves, you know that summer is near. In the same way, when you see these things happening, know that he is near, at the gates… But of that day or hour, no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (Mark 13:28-29, 32).

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"Learn a lesson from the fig tree."

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Again, Jesus spoke here in parable which is also the word for “lesson” in Mark’s original Greek writing of the gospel. A parable is a simple story with a deep, profound reality and lesson. That is why Jesus used it so often just like here a few days before His Pasch.

And this is the lesson or parable of the fig tree that Jesus spoke of: most of the trees in Jerusalem are evergreen that keep their leaves all year round despite the changing of season while fig trees are deciduous that shed their leaves in winter and summer. This changing condition made the fig tree a perfect parable about the end of the world that Jesus was speaking of – an end of the season to usher in a new one!

In theology, we call this study of the “end” or “last” things as eschatology. There are two kinds of last things in life that we deal in eschatology: our individual end in our death (particular) and the parousia which is the Second Coming of Jesus Christ at the end of the world (general).

Of course, it is always fearful to think of both endings. We hate endings because they are good byes. However, we know deep inside ourselves too that despite that “sweet, sweet sorrow” of every ending comes also a more wonderful hello, a more amazing new beginning. In reality, there are no endings but more beginnings: when children move out of the home to study, they begin their adult life in college; later on, they leave home for good to get married to start a family of their own. Life is a cycle of beginnings and ends that goes on and on and on.

The trick is really to learn the lesson of the fig tree, that is, to live our lives to the fullest in each season and phase, to learn to let go of the past, to savor every present and look forward to every tomorrow. Yes, it is easier said than done but, as we mature and age gracefully in Jesus Christ, we become fulfilled, less stressed amid the many things we are totally unaware and ignorant of what both particular and general endings would bring us.

In presenting to us the parable or lesson of the fig tree regarding the end of our lives or the end of the world – both of which nobody knows when – Jesus is actually encouraging us to live more faithfully in Him and His gospel.

It is useless to know the precise date and hour of both endings nor the exact indications of its imminence; what matters most is that every moment of our lives, we live in Jesus Christ our High Priest who had offered Himself for our salvation (second reading). There is no point in interpreting even visualizing how St. Michael would battle the devil at the end of time; what the prophet Daniel is telling us is how we are assured of victory and salvation in the end if remain faithful to God (first reading).

Live fully by celebrating life. All throughout the year, we have heard Jesus reminding us, assuring us how much He loves us so immensely that is why He became human like us; in His coming, He joined us in all our sufferings except sin to show us that the path back to the Father in heaven is through the path of His Cross.

Despite my coming to Israel thrice, I have never tasted a fresh fig but have always loved it even better than dates. Its sweet taste and tiny bits of seeds inside make it always a pleasure to eat. If we can truly learn its lesson, we can end up like figs too – delightfully sweet inside.

I recently bought an electric shave as an early Christmas gift to myself. I really don’t mind seeing my hair including mustache and beard turning grey and white; what bothers me lately is how my skin has become so easily irritated by my razor. Yes, I am getting older with skin sagging and add to that a vision getting blurred that shaving with a razor every morning is no longer fun but short of an agony.

As I examined my new shave set, I remembered a Japanese saying I used to tell young people before in my talks and recollections, “Growing up is nice, but sometimes painful.”

Indeed, growing up is nice – and ageing is even nicer though twice painful sometimes.

Like the fig tree, I can sense losing a lot of myself daily, yet becoming more tender and softer in the process, simpler and more joyful, perhaps. To my fellow 59ers and above, May the Lord Jesus lead us through the end in His loving embrace. Amen.