“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.” (Mark 13:24-25)

Maybe it is as simple as the ever shortened days we live in. Days of diminished light intensity and warmth; days of growing shadows.  The same news seems a little worse. Maybe it is that the news is in fact becoming worse.  That there is a persistent of wintry shadows whose tendrils reach into the recesses of life and imagination.  Shadows that make reading the signs of the times more difficult; that make us wonder if there is a reason for Hope.  Wonder if these are the end of days.

Every generation has to read the signs of its own times – as Scripture tells us to do.  There are some within each age which look to the portents of these days and see the darkened sun of tribulation, stars falling from the sky, and it seems as though the powers in the heavens are shaken. The tragedy of the most recent mass shooting. Lingering wars in the Middle East. A nation wondering what will unfold with the coming Presidential administration.  An uncertain economy. A future in which we wonder if more jobs will be lost to technology even as income is diminished.

And then there are personal afflictions and tragedies – all part of life – giving color and hue to our vision.  A husband and wife, more than 50 years married, whisper “I love you” as one lies dying and the other feels the encroaching dread of shadows laced with sorrow and loneliness. A loved one passed away too soon. Parents discover a child has begun to experiment with drugs, alcohol, or simply to emulate a set of unrecognizable values – ones never before seen in the home. A child watching the growing tension between parents.  All of us are peering into a future which seems as unsure as any future we have known.

In the first movie of the Lord of the Ring trilogy, the young hobbit Frodo lives in the shadow of the great ring, the ring whose corrupting power threatens all Middle Earth.  Frodo must carry the ring into the darkness of the land of Mordor, to the very home of the Dark Lord. Upon his efforts, his sacrifice rest the fate of men, elves and good folk – of goodness itself.  Verging on the point of despair, Frodo looks to the wizard, Gandalf the Gray and says: “I wish the ring had never come to me.  I wish none of this had happened.” Gandalf replies: “So do all who live to see such times but that is not for them to decide.  All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.”

Living in these times is indeed not for us to decide, what is for us to decide to trust in Hope. In the midst of all these growing shadows, there is Hope. It is in the first reading today from the prophet Daniel. “But the wise shall shine brightly like the splendor of the firmament, And those who lead the many to justice shall be like the stars forever.” (Daniel 12:3) People who saw Hope in the Shadows. It is in the gospel of Mark: “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 13:26-27). People who see Hope in the Resurrection.

The witness of the Christian community is one that despite the sense that we live in a time where tribulation is growing worse, we are people who are called to decide what to do with the time given to us.  We are people called in every age to see the promise of the Resurrection, the Son of Man continuing to come in the clouds with great power and glory.  We are people that know our faith does not make us immune to suffering and disappointment.  We are people that believe in the transforming power of Christ in the world, in our time, in every age.  We are the people who know that Christ, the Son of Man, suffered the fate of the cross – and transformed that most hideous of things into power and glory that conquered Death.  Although we may suffer, death has already been conquered.  And we have the power, in grace and faith, to decide to transform the world, to cast light into the shadows.

We can choose to see the horror of the lone gunman, or we can see the response of the community in hope and love.  We can choose to see the despair of death, or we can see a loving couple who for 50 years of marriage, each day, said the same words, “I love you.”  We can choose to see the Hope in the shadows and know that “we carry these treasures in jars of clay to show that this all surpassing power is from God and not from us.” (2 Cor 4:7)

We are people that know the angels and messengers of God have already been sent to gather the elect from the four winds, from the end of the earth and sky, to form the new community in Christ.   That call continues and will not pass away. We have been called to shine forth with Godly wisdom and to lead others to justice. We are witnesses to Hope because in Jesus the Messiah, the holy One of God, has come, has “offered one sacrifice for sins, and took his seat forever at the right hand of God…[making] perfect forever those who are being consecrated.” (Hebrews 10:14)

When others see the tender branches and leaves of justice in your lives, see God’s wisdom in the manner in which you face tribulation, then you become the fig tree of the gospel readings. You become the sign of Hope for others in their tribulation – and in you, Christ is near, at the gates.

These are the times given to us.  We have lived to see these times and must now decide what to do with the time given.  May you choose to be in the world, in these times, to show the power and glory of Hope, the Risen Lord, who saves and whose Word does not pass away.

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