Nov242024
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The Book of Revelation: Giving Christians a Finish Line.

The Book of Revelation is a letter to seven churches. The Christians in these churches had something in common. They were all discouraged and beaten down by the evil of the world. They did not feel they were making any impact. So, what do you say to this group that is ready to throw in the towel? You give them a finish line, a victory.

I went out with my shovel and a bucket of salt and cleaned off the cars and driveway. Just before I went to bed, I stuck my head out the window to look at my nice work and check on the weather. The cars and the driveway were covered with snow.  Apparently, the snow had slid off the church roof. So I put on my coat, picked up a shovel, and went back to work. As I was getting started, someone stuck his head out the door and asked what I was doing.  I was holding a shovel at the time, so I thought what I was doing was obvious. Still, I replied, “I am shoveling snow.”  “Why?” he asked.  I replied, “Because there is snow on the ground.” Then he pressed further, “I thought you had already shoveled the snow.” I answered, “I did, but afterward, the snow slid off the roof.”  “Why are you shoveling at this hour?”  “Because it will freeze tonight, and this wet snow will turn to ice.”  He murmured, “Oh,” and went back into the house.  He asked me every question except the one I wanted him to ask: “Do you want a hand?” 

About a year later, it snowed all weekend again. When it stopped, I got my coat, shovel, and a bucket of salt.  I opened the door and saw that someone had already cleaned off the cars and shoveled the snow. I was so impressed that I needed to find out who did this.  I went on an investigation, and after making several inquiries, I discovered that one of our new seminarians had fulfilled the task. 

Many years later, this same seminarian, now a priest, invited me to preach at his first Mass and take a guess what I answered to the crowded church. I told them what he did during his first year in the seminary. All those years it was a secret, no one knew, and I said, “This is the kind of person he is and the kind of priest he will be.”

We need a day of reckoning as Christians because Christianity is a series of thankless jobs. We go to the copier, and it is full of paper jams. So we spend twenty minutes taking apart the copier and fixing the problem. No one knows we did it. No one even knew it was not functioning except for the guy who had jammed it up and had run away.

It takes me six months to prepare for a marathon. Someone asked in November when I was training for Boston in April. I told him two weeks ago. That is a long time. I have to get up at four in the morning while everyone is asleep, and run in the dark and the cold, feel muscle aches and constant chaffing. Yet, I never get discouraged or even waver. Why? Because there is a finish line. There is nothing greater than crossing that finish line. You feel like you did something special, get a medal, a goody bag, and make lots of friends.

The author of the Book of Revelation gave discouraged Christians a finish line, a victory so they would never waver or give up. That is what the feast of Christ the King is all about. All of our thankless jobs, sacrifices, and good works that have been a secret all our lives will one day be worth it. 

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