A reflection for a Sunday communion service at Mary Gate of Heaven in Negril, Jamaica, thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time.
Before Br. Daniel and I arrived in Jamaica, we spent a week in the village of Maunabo, Puerto Rico where we worked repairing houses destroyed by Hurricane Maria back in 2017. Four years later, they were still rebuilding their homes. On our first day of work, we were welcomed into the home of a woman named Milagros. We worked on two houses that week and broke every day for lunch prepared by Milagros. While we sat and ate, Milagros and others described their experiences of surviving the hurricane.
What she described sounded apocalyptic to me. Trees were ripped from the ground, and patches of jungle turned to mulch. Windows and walls were blown out, and even the metal rebar and concrete were bent by the force of the wind. For several hours, the people of Muanabo experienced a catastrophic event, a great tribulation. The sun darkened, and the heavens were shaken. But despite all the darkness and distress, the next day, Milagros began traveling door to door, searching for survivors, gathering her community together, and figuring out how to rebuild their homes. After four years of leading reconstruction groups for her neighbors' properties, she finally agreed to let a group work to repair her house.
I don't know about you, but these readings today were difficult. They describe some really hopeless situations. They predict a time of unsurpassed distress when stars will fall from the sky and the sun and moon will darken. I feel overwhelmed just imagining such a time. But I don't think this is Jesus' intent. He doesn't want us discouraged by doom and gloom. Our gospel doesn't end in destruction. It ends in Jesus' coming. It ends in hope and the possibility of new life.
Jesus says in our gospel - to consider the fig tree, when its branch becomes tender and sprouts new leaves, you know that summer is near. So too, he says, when you see distressing times or moments of darkness, know that Jesus is near. Jesus doesn't run away, he always draws near. The good news is that we too are being called to draw near to one another in times of distress, to help carry each other's burdens when we get kicked down, and to work for justice for many so we can outshine the darkness in the world and be "like the stars forever."
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