By Msgr. Joseph Prior • Posted November 15, 2024

(See the readings for the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time)

The people of Ukraine have been under siege since February 24, 2022. Cities, towns and villages were bombed, and troops invaded. Civilians and children have been targeted, populations displaced, prisoners taken. The threat of bombs or troops moving into different regions lingers. The population is in turmoil as they courageously fight against the aggressor. Some people seeing photographs of the devastation have called it “apocalyptic.”

The term “apocalypse” is commonly used today to describe the “end times” or the “end of the world.” The images of destruction, turmoil and battle come, in part, from some of the biblical descriptions using a literary style of writing called “apocalyptic literature.” The most known of this type of literature is the Book of Revelation which some call the “Apocalypse.” The term “apocalypse” is actually a Greek word meaning “revelation.” The Gospel passage for this Sunday’s liturgy and the passage from Daniel in the first reading would both be considered as apocalyptic writing.

How does this type of writing differ from other types of writing? We should recognize first that in the Scriptures there are many different styles of writing. Some passages or books are historical, some poetry, some wisdom literature, some parable, some letters or correspondence, some songs and some stories. The variety is quite large. In a certain sense the style of writing carries with it a basic, unexpressed, presumed understanding that the reader would recognize by familiarity with the style itself.

For example, parables are used to give an insight into something much larger than the images presented in the words. Key to the parable is an engagement of the reader through an almost puzzle-like presentation. The reader is engaged to “figure it out.” In doing so the reader becomes actively involved in the lesson. The writer does not tell the reader this is what they are supposed to do; rather, as the reader becomes more and more familiar with this type of writing, almost automatically, he or she engages in the pondering as they read or hear the words.

Apocalyptic literature uses imagery of battle and war sometimes using fantastic images (such as in the Book of Revelation) to imagine the final confrontation between good and evil, God and Satan. The images, however, are not a blow-by-blow account of what is actually going to happen in the future. The “future” aspect conveyed in this type of writing is that God will win in the end. And for those who remain faithful, they will share in his victory. Because of this the people living in the “present” can be filled with hope and perseverance as they await the end. The purpose of this style of writing is to invite the reader to be vigilant and to be hopeful.

Scholars suggest that these writings were originally intended for people who were under persecution. They were immersed in the battle between good and evil. It was real to them because they were being persecuted; they were constantly under threat. Today we might think of the people in Ukraine (or other parts of the world where people are unjustly being attacked) as being in a similar situation. The writing comes to encourage faithfulness and persistence until the end when good will be victorious, God will be triumphant and his people will share in his victory.

Jesus rarely uses apocalyptic imagery but he does so in Sunday’s Gospel account. The period of tribulation is seen in the darkness and “stars falling from the sky.” The victory is seen in the “Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.” Although, as Jesus tells us we do not know the day or the hour, the victory will be assured; deliverance will come. We can rely on his help as we await the victory for, as he says, “heaven and earth will pass away but my words will not pass away.”

The first reading from the Book of Daniel similarly uses apocalyptic images to encourage the same hope and faithfulness. Here into the trials and distress, Michael the Archangel will arise to fight evil. The promise of future victory is bright: “At that time your people shall escape, everyone who is found written in the book. ‘Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake; some shall live forever, others shall be an everlasting horror and disgrace. 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.’”

The words of hope offered by these passages are not just for a persecuted people. Anyone who has to deal with confrontation with evil in its varied forms, anyone who has a confrontation with injustice, anyone who is pressured to abandon faithfulness to the Lord and his Way for the passing fads of current culture, anyone who is personally struggling with choosing good and avoiding evil, can hear these words and be encouraged to hope.

Jesus enters this world, enters into the conflicts, enters into the injustices, enters into the struggle, enters into the pressures of this world and overcomes them through faithfulness. He already has conquered evil through his death and resurrection. He remains with us on our journey and, in the end, will return and lead us to the final victory. He urges us now to remain hopeful and to persevere.

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Msgr. Joseph Prior is pastor of Our Lady of Grace Parish, Penndel, and a former professor of Sacred Scripture and rector of St. Charles Borromeo Seminary.