“Of that day or hour, no one knows,
neither the Son but only the Father.”
There are certain types of literature
that have grown unpopular over time.
Today poetry is sadly a little less popular than it once was.
It’s a shame because poetry is the mystic’s language.
It communicates that which through beautiful words
what other language cannot.
There are other sort of literary genre
that have somewhat disappeared.
Mythology is one for example.
We rarely ever read mythology anymore
and yet it has the incredible power to communicate
really complex archetypal language that exists for every generation;
and gives it in a story format.
Another type of genre that has become unpopular
is biblical called apocalyptic language; or apocalypse.
Unfortunately it is mostly misunderstood as foretelling the future,
when in fact actually apocalyptic is not that all.
It actually means to reveal.
And that is why the book of Apocalypse
is often called the Book of Revelation in the New Testament.
And we hear from two of those today.
We hear from the Book of Daniel and
we hear from this portion of Mark’s gospel,
which is apocalyptic language.
We have to understand this genre of literature
to understand what is being communicated.
They use very dramatic language to get your attention.
It is hyperbolic language and says
the earth and the sky are going to fall.
We are meant to lean in:
“Woo, what is going to happen next?”
That is the way it is meant to be.
It is meant to get your attention and
what comes next is what is the most important part.
Of course, that is what Jesus does in today’s gospel.
He says you never know the time or the hour.
You just do not know;
the old order has passed away and a new order is here.
And you will not know how or when.
In other words “Stay awake!”
And we will hear that next week;
stay awake at all times because God is present.
That is the truth of what we believe as Catholics;
that God is not made present because we come here
but God is present at all times and in all places.
But when we come together in a special way, God is present,
in the most holy sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ.
And we are called to become that in the world.
That is our role.
That is what we do.
But here is what we have to do:
We have to have eyes of faith to see that.
And I think sometimes in our lives,
we get so busy doing even good things
that we do not even see the God who is right among us;
right in the middle of our every-day life.
We miss what is in plain sight; and we do not see it.
We will continue to read this apologlytic language
until the end of the liturgical year.
It is to focus our attention
because we are coming to the end of the liturgical year.
Sometimes our lives are so busy,
it is just like stones at the bottom of a river.
They are all just stones and we do not seem to recognize
the diamonds that are right there in the middle of all the stones.
Why? Well, because we are not looking.
We are not ready.
We are too busy just getting to places and from places.
There is a real danger in that distraction
because God is present among us now, at all times, in all places.
And we can get distracted by busyness
that can be good things and that can be not-so-good things.
We can get distracted by hurts and pains
and we can get distracted by just the busyness of life.
All of us do.
Let me give you an example:
This week was a tough week for me.
I went to visit my good friend and spiritual director, Fr. Dave.
He is dying from pancreatic cancer
so I went down to visit him in Los Angeles
for what would be most certainly our last visit.
And it was a hard day.
It was really a long and hard day but it was a good day.
There was a lot of grace in the moments and
especially seeing how St. Monica’s parish staff, Monsignor Llyod,
all caring for him so much and the community caring for him so much.
But it was a long and hard emotional day.
The next day, Wednesday, I was in visiting the school
and I go from classroom to classroom visiting the children.
Now I love to go from classroom to classroom
but I really feel like those children,
God bless the teachers,
you know you have 30 of those kids in a class
and like they are just buzzing.
They are like little energy balls;
I think they are taking all the energy out of me
when you meet with them. Right?
Like they are just sucking the energy out.
But so after three hours of this school visit, I was exhausted.
My last class was a pre-kindergarten class.
I’m terrified of these little ones.
They are tiny little; they are little boys and girls full of energy
and they are coming to suck all the energy out of me;
there was nothing left.
I go in and I sit and I read and we have a little Q&A.
And then I go outside to visit the second class in the playground;
and they are all just buzzing around me.
I don’t know what to do.
I’m terrified of these little ones running around.
So I just decided to sit down.
Obviously I looked exhausted.
This little boy comes over and sits down right beside me.
And he puts his hand on my arm
and he pets my hairy arm and he says,
“Oh you look just like my Dad. You look exhausted.”
He pets my arm and he leans in and
puts his head down on my arm and he says, “I love you.”
And I just melted. Right.
God moments come to us when we need them the most.
God comes to us in the middle of all that.
But if we do not have eyes to see;
or if we are not ready for it, it will go past us like water of a river
and we will never see that sparkling diamond
in the middle of the river bank.
What are we called to do?
It is not enough that we just come to see it here.
We have to become it out there.
We come to receive it here but we give it away out there.
Our role is to become this living presence of Christ for others.
We are called to, yes, notice it in our own lives.
Maybe it is the touch of a child or a grandchild.
Maybe it is the touch of a loved one;
just a simple pat on the shoulder
or a pat on the head or the arm, saying “I love you.”
Or maybe it is that we have to say that to them
so they know we are there for them.
Or maybe it is looking up at the beautiful mountains that we have;
and the beautiful sunny day that we have;
and just say, “How could you not see the glory of God in God’s creation?”
There is so much to be grateful for;
so much to really see God’s presence here
and now not in some future time or generation
but we must be awake and we must be prepared to see it
and then we must be prepared to become it for others.
That is our role; to become the living presence for others today.
Stay awake.
We never know the time or the hour he will appear.
