When You Hear of Wars and Insurrections, Do Not Be Terrified

11-16-2025Weekly ReflectionFr. Manasseh lorchir, VC

We have arrived at the penultimate Sunday to the end of the Liturgical year in the Catholic Church. Next Sunday, we shall end the Liturgical year with the Solemnity of Jesus Christ the King of the Universe. It is worth noting that the First Reading at the liturgy this weekend is taken from the last oracles of the prophet Malachi who interestingly is the last of the Old Testament prophets. Therefore, it is not surprising that the Readings invite us to reflect on the end of the world. While this is a fitting reminder that life on earth will certainly come to an end so that we may face judgement in order to account for the many blessings we received, these Readings do not in any way represent an invitation to become obsessed about “end times” and so become physically and spiritually inactive.

As hinted above, Malachi announced the coming of the day of judgement for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, a day that would spell doom for the unjust, but would be a day of vindication for those who “Fear my (God’s) name.” For those who fear the name of God, Malachi prophesied they would experience the rising of “the sun of Justice with its healing rays.” This sun of justice is clearly the salvation that Jesus would off er to all who believe in Him.

After the salvific work of Christ was done and the salvation of all was accomplished, some communities within the early Church took Jesus’ prediction of the end of time quite literally and as an unfortunate consequence refused to work. They must have thought that if Christ’s coming is imminent, what is the purpose of working to provide necessities that would be destroyed. However, they failed to mind their own business but interfered with the businesses of those who chose to work. In response, Paul the Apostle to the Gentiles wrote strong and corrective words to the Church in Thessalonica reminding them about the dignity of human labor and instructing those who were hiding under the imminent return of the Lord to keep away from work to go back to work in order to earn their food. This understanding of the “Day of the Lord” by St. Paul clearly aligns with the teachings of Jesus. In the Gospel passage, Jesus prophesied that the world will come to an end but went ahead to warn His followers against being deceived by false prophets who would come claiming to be Godsent and predicting the time for the end of the world. While His followers must not believe them, Jesus also counselled them not to be afraid when they see the signs that would precede the end of the world manifesting.

While there would be many signs, the most prominent sign for His disciples would be a geometric increase in the persecution of Christians where believers would be handed over for persecution by parents, brothers, relatives and friends. A glance at contemporary society clearly reveals that this is already happening all over the world. In my home country of Nigeria, fellow countrymen are persecuting fellow citizens in the name of religion and even inviting foreigners of the same faith with them to converge on the country in order to persecute Christians. Here in the United States, pro-lifers and other adherents of the Christian faith are reporting and increasing animosity towards traditional Christian beliefs by fellow citizens who do not share those beliefs.

Christ is coming again! He is coming to bring justice for unjust and vindication to the upright. When? We do not know but we must be physically and spiritually active as we wait for Christ’s second coming.

May we be empowered with the needed grace to be ready when Jesus returns and may He find us at our duty post whenever He calls us home.

Please be kind and may God bless you.

Fr. Manasseh Iorchir, VC