the end
I would like to reflect with you today on the word the end, tapos na, bow, the end. Jesus in our gospel talks about the time that will come. In greek this time that will come is called the eschaton, the end of time. For the seminarians, if you will reach theology you will have an interesting subject called eschatology, a subject which is very hard to spell but nevertheless interesting. There you will study our catholic beliefs on death, death and the beyond, you will study that phrase in the creed which says he will come again to judge the living and the dead, you will learn what heaven is, what hell is, and what purgatory is all about. In short you will talk about the end.
In life we experience that there is always an end to everything that we do and even to everything that we love. During recreation we may still want to go on playing football, we are about to shoot the ball into the basket, but then the whistle of the referee blows, the bell ringer rings the bell for showers - and there you go, the end. JJ and Mark Joseph entered high school seminary 4 years ago. In a few more months they will graduate and high school life will have to end and be over for both of them. You may be hungry now, you eat at the canteen and in a moment you brain tells you that your hunger is sated, your hunger is ended. Even those simple feelings of being hungry, being so in love, being so attracted, being so busy - all of these have an end.
Problems abound when we are dealing with people who do not want things to end, people who do not know when to stop and therefore to end, people who do not know that everything that they do, whether they love it or not, have an end. They become drunk because they do not know when to stop, they become greedy because there seems to be no satisfaction to their desire to have more, they cannot seem to get over their grieving because they cannot understand why things have to end.
Why do you quarrel sometimes in the classrooms? More often than not it starts with teasing, making fun of the other. Sometimes because we so enjoy teasing others we forget when to stop, we forget when to say sakto na, or we forget when to note nga indi man pagpatam-i ang isa. And because we enjoy doing it and we don’t want it to end, we end up hurting people and creating conflicts. As I said problems come into existence because of people who do not want things to end, because of people who do not know when to stop and therefore to end, and because there are people who do not know that everything that they do, whether they love it or not, have an end. One day even life has to end, and one day still even earth has to stop existing.
Nadumduman ko anay sang gamay pa ako, gingisi sang maestra ko ang akon test paper. Ngaa, kay nagsiling na sia pencils up, ball pens up, pero sige pa akon sulat, manginyadi gid. Sa sobra nga panginyadi, zero. That was a simple disciplinary move from my teacher but it taught me a very important lesson in life - know when to stop and learn that there is an end to everything.
This is a very important lesson today as we start advent. Advent is not just about Christmas. Advent is more so about the end. We prepare because there is an end. We are watchful because we have to know when to end and when it will end.
Today also we start our triduum in honor of our Lady of the Miraculous Medal. Mary is the icon, the image of what we will later become. What we will later become we see in Mary. What God will do for us in the end we see in what God has done for Mary. She is conceived without sin. A time will come when sin will also stop, when greed will finally come to an end, when lust and wars will cease. She is assumed into heaven. At time will come too when I will be assumed into heaven, when all my struggles will finally end.
Frankly I like the season of Advent more than I love Christmas or even Easter. Because advent gives me a reason to hope for the things that will come, for the things that God will do to me and to you. Yesterday we have a fun run. It may be fun for you but for me running can be a torment. Your fun run is my tormented run. You did 4 k - you ran four kilometres. I did Benito K - I made a shortcut at Benito Hospital. This is my situation now. But advent gives me hope. One day, in the near future I can play football again, and I will defeat Kherwin and smash him, defeat him in the football field. One day I can kick that ball so hard, so hard that when Michael catches it, he and the ball go inside the goal. One day I will be able to go up the stage again and I will defeat Zedi when I have recovered my wonderful voice. One day I am going to make that wonderful and graceful lay-up just as Woolf and Christian do. One day I will. Balang araw, balang araw - that is a wonderful song for advent. Everytime you sing it, it makes my hair rise wanting to see the surprise God has in store for me. Advent keeps me excited for the future. I look on Mary because in her was realized the hope of every human person. I look to Mary not just because she is a good mother to me, I look to her because she personifies what I want myself to become. And God will one day do it to me as God did it to her.
Eschaton, at the end of time, in the near future. Just think of what God will do to us balang araw. Just think. It is beautiful, it will be beautiful. I am not afraid. I prepare, I need to be watchful yes, but it will be good future, it will be a good ending to my life and your life.
In life we experience that there is always an end to everything that we do and even to everything that we love. During recreation we may still want to go on playing football, we are about to shoot the ball into the basket, but then the whistle of the referee blows, the bell ringer rings the bell for showers - and there you go, the end. JJ and Mark Joseph entered high school seminary 4 years ago. In a few more months they will graduate and high school life will have to end and be over for both of them. You may be hungry now, you eat at the canteen and in a moment you brain tells you that your hunger is sated, your hunger is ended. Even those simple feelings of being hungry, being so in love, being so attracted, being so busy - all of these have an end.
Problems abound when we are dealing with people who do not want things to end, people who do not know when to stop and therefore to end, people who do not know that everything that they do, whether they love it or not, have an end. They become drunk because they do not know when to stop, they become greedy because there seems to be no satisfaction to their desire to have more, they cannot seem to get over their grieving because they cannot understand why things have to end.
Why do you quarrel sometimes in the classrooms? More often than not it starts with teasing, making fun of the other. Sometimes because we so enjoy teasing others we forget when to stop, we forget when to say sakto na, or we forget when to note nga indi man pagpatam-i ang isa. And because we enjoy doing it and we don’t want it to end, we end up hurting people and creating conflicts. As I said problems come into existence because of people who do not want things to end, because of people who do not know when to stop and therefore to end, and because there are people who do not know that everything that they do, whether they love it or not, have an end. One day even life has to end, and one day still even earth has to stop existing.
Nadumduman ko anay sang gamay pa ako, gingisi sang maestra ko ang akon test paper. Ngaa, kay nagsiling na sia pencils up, ball pens up, pero sige pa akon sulat, manginyadi gid. Sa sobra nga panginyadi, zero. That was a simple disciplinary move from my teacher but it taught me a very important lesson in life - know when to stop and learn that there is an end to everything.
This is a very important lesson today as we start advent. Advent is not just about Christmas. Advent is more so about the end. We prepare because there is an end. We are watchful because we have to know when to end and when it will end.
Today also we start our triduum in honor of our Lady of the Miraculous Medal. Mary is the icon, the image of what we will later become. What we will later become we see in Mary. What God will do for us in the end we see in what God has done for Mary. She is conceived without sin. A time will come when sin will also stop, when greed will finally come to an end, when lust and wars will cease. She is assumed into heaven. At time will come too when I will be assumed into heaven, when all my struggles will finally end.
Frankly I like the season of Advent more than I love Christmas or even Easter. Because advent gives me a reason to hope for the things that will come, for the things that God will do to me and to you. Yesterday we have a fun run. It may be fun for you but for me running can be a torment. Your fun run is my tormented run. You did 4 k - you ran four kilometres. I did Benito K - I made a shortcut at Benito Hospital. This is my situation now. But advent gives me hope. One day, in the near future I can play football again, and I will defeat Kherwin and smash him, defeat him in the football field. One day I can kick that ball so hard, so hard that when Michael catches it, he and the ball go inside the goal. One day I will be able to go up the stage again and I will defeat Zedi when I have recovered my wonderful voice. One day I am going to make that wonderful and graceful lay-up just as Woolf and Christian do. One day I will. Balang araw, balang araw - that is a wonderful song for advent. Everytime you sing it, it makes my hair rise wanting to see the surprise God has in store for me. Advent keeps me excited for the future. I look on Mary because in her was realized the hope of every human person. I look to Mary not just because she is a good mother to me, I look to her because she personifies what I want myself to become. And God will one day do it to me as God did it to her.
Eschaton, at the end of time, in the near future. Just think of what God will do to us balang araw. Just think. It is beautiful, it will be beautiful. I am not afraid. I prepare, I need to be watchful yes, but it will be good future, it will be a good ending to my life and your life.
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