time for conversion

When you look at your Bibles, you’ll notice that Malachi is the last book of the Old Testament. Malachi’s writings are the transition from the Old Testament to the New Testament. The prophet Malachi writes between the sixth and fifth century before the birth of Christ. Right after Malachi we have the Gospel of Matthew. This means that Malachi’s writings somehow lead us to the language of the coming of the Messiah who comes to liberate the people. The one whom God promised. A Saviour.

Where do we have this prophetic language in Malachi? The day is coming, burning like an oven (Malachi 4:1) This is called Messianic language. “The day” is always in reference to the Messiah. The Messiah is coming.  Malachi speaks of the unjust, the wicked, who rule with pride and arrogance. Their indifference to God and God’s commands. When this day comes, they will be ash and rubble. In other words, burned and destroyed. Clearly a day of judgment. To respect God is to love him with our actions. The language is powerful and dramatic because this will occur, “when the day comes.”
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The contrast is with those who honour and respect the name of God, “revere my name; things will be different.” The sun of righteousness refers to the light, the rising sun, who not only brings light into a world of darkness and sin, but also healing for those who have suffered by the wicked. A few verses down at verse 5 Malachi speaks of Elijah being sent, “Behold I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.” Elijah is the greatest of the Old Testament prophets. But now, who can Elijah be before the day of the Lord comes? Elijah, in fact, is understood to be John the Baptist. Why John the Baptist? Because John the Baptist prepares the way for the Lord. John the Baptist and Jesus new well the message of Malachi. John the Baptist assumes the role of Elijah.

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St. Paul in his 2nd Letter to the Thessalonians, chapter 3, is down to earth in his realism. With a generous community of Christians, people share what they have with others, it’s also very easy to take advantage of generosity. But St. Paul is speaking of being “idle” with time; then, taking advantage of others.  It’s not just doing “nothing,” but failing to recognise the value of the time which God has given us and how we use this time. St. Paul’s letter is about the sacredness of time. Truly time is not ours to do as we please, but the time God has given us on earth, and we don’t know how much time we have, to glorify God.
St. Paul sounds extreme: anyone who will not work should not eat. This refers to those who can work, but spend their time simply complaining. So, not only do they fail to recognise the sacredness of their time but they even make it difficult for others. We are left with the example of Paul: “imitate me.” Prayer—Work—Rest. All of these have their place. Paul is not saying you all need to be crazy busy in the community of Thessalonians. But how is time being used? Or is it being wasted? This is a question of idleness.

There is also another problem which Paul does not mention but is related to “busybodies.” There is the expression in English, “Idleness is the devil’s workshop.” When a person is idle, bored, has nothing to do, the risk of temptation increases, because Satan has the opportunity to tempt with thoughts which can turn into evil acts.

One of the most common areas of wasting time, being idle, is simply surfing on the internet. And the internet can be a slippery slope into hell. So, we need to use time in a way that is productive and not wasteful whether on the internet or communicating with others: chatting, looking at photos, google searches… it can go on and on… The question is, Do our activities glorify God in the end? Modern electronic communication may be used effectively to this end of bringing individuals closer to God – even reconnecting them with their Faith; it can be a place of spiritual growth. But also, as St. Paul says, a place of idleness.  Our actions should help us and others grow spiritually. As Paul had said, “You know yourselves how you ought to imitate us.” Are our actions a reflection of God at work in us?

St. Luke’s Gospel, chapter 21:5-19, expresses the prophetic language of Jesus: Jesus refers to the Temple of Jerusalem, adorned with beautiful stones. But Jesus says, “the day will come when not one stone will be left upon another.” When Jesus was telling this to his disciples it was about in the early 30sAD. Jesus is telling us about the end times. The Signs. What to look for. Before He returns. The language is apocalyptic – the language of the return to the Messiah, which, fulfils what Malachi had prophesied in our first reading: “On that day…”

In the late 70 about 40 years after the Crucifixion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus, the Roman army sacked Jerusalem because of an anti-Roman and the Temple to which Jesus referred in St. Luke’s Gospel was actually destroyed. The only thing that remains of the Temple is the Western Wall which you can still see. Is this the first sign that has occurred? The first sign that Jesus will suddenly return?

These Messianic signs have always been difficult to interpret and Jesus does not give us any specific dating, only signs. While there have been wars the First World War and Second World Wars as signs of nation against nation, there have always been terrible bloody wars. What we have today, perhaps the first time in history, is moral confusion, where people do not know any longer what is right and what is wrong.

People don’t know how actions are to be judged. So much is permissible, tolerable, acceptable. Then our society, the media, goes to the other extreme like a witch hunt ready to burn with persuasive motives – or collective hysteria. Is this moral confusion, perhaps a sign, that we need Christ to return to bring definitive Order to the world, final judgment? Our society is terribly incoherent. Hence the confusion.
In Advent, and prepare ourselves for the Birth of Our Saviour. Yes, we wait for Jesus return so He can put the world in Order. He is the only one who can. Our society may be permissive and at the same time merciless. Faith in Christ means God judges with divine mercy – true mercy. We will be judged based on how we lived our lives. Whether we followed Jesus’ teachings or our own self-focussed impulses. We can always ask for forgiveness and change our ways. The Gospel like the prophet Malachi ask us: are you ready if Jesus suddenly returned.
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Let us ask the Virgin Mary to help us prepare ourselves for the return of her Son. Amen