November or Nov-end-ber?
November is the penultimate month of the calendar year and the last month of the Liturgical Year. There are many “ends” to November. You could look at the world around you and say, “It is dead.” The trees have lost their leaves, and the rain has already helped them begin the decomposition process. The trees look dead! Many farm fields have been harvested, or whatever crops might still be standing have long given up their lively green color. The fields look dead! Something as essential as daylight comes to a hasty end earlier and earlier with each passing day. Even the day seems to be in the darkness of death!
Hang in there with me…if you do, things will start looking up!
In his masterpiece, the Summa Theologica, (which I confess I have never read), St. Thomas Aquinas wrote, “Since therefore grace does not destroy nature but perfects it, natural reason should minister to faith as the natural bent of the will ministers to charity.” (Summa Theologica, Part 1, Question 1, Article 8, Response to Objection 2) This is often paraphrased as grace builds on nature, but I prefer grace perfects nature.
What is Grace, but God’s life, Itself! So, when God enters into the natural world He perfects it, giving it, “all the required or desirable elements, qualities, or characteristics; as good as it is possible to be.” (thank you Google for this definition.) He makes sense out of it. He brings order into the disordered natural world, in its broken, wounded state. How? How else does God give us a way for Him to enter into our lives, if we will allow Him? Through the Church, His community of faithful disciples living in this world, loving Him here so that we can be with Him for eternity in the next life. The Church, in her wisdom, takes this last month of the Liturgical Year to remind us natural creation is finite. The natural world had a beginning, and much like what we observe at this time of year, it will have a final end. You and I are very much a part of natural creation. We are finite, and since we all have a birthday, we will have a death day.
Stay with me…it will get better!
The month began with All Saints Day to celebrate all those who have gone before us and are celebrating their eternal union with the Blessed Trinity. We call them The Church Triumphant. The very next day, All Souls Day, we remember all those who have left this life and are in the state of purification we call Purgatory. A mercy from God when all the effects of sin can be purged from their beings and they are made more perfectly like Christ. The Church Suffering, the Holy Souls in Purgatory, are remembered throughout the entire month. Remember these Holy Souls! Pray for them, for Padre Pio says, “We must empty purgatory with our prayers!”
And what of us, The Church Militant? We are not left out of the “ends” of November. The Church assists us in remembering that while we are fighting that battle against, the Devil, temptation, and sin, we, too will have an end to our time here in this life. The Knights of Columbus have the motto, “Tempus Fugit. Memento Mori,” Latin for “Time flies. Remember Death.” This has been felt most keenly in the readings for the past few Sundays.
With all this focus on “ends,” you might wonder, why at the darkest time of the year, when nature is showing all the signs of death, does the Church lay it on thick by calling to mind THE END OF TIME? How depressing! Where is the light in the darkness? EXACTLY! Where is the Light that no darkness will ever overcome?
You made it…now is when the getting is good!
The Light of the World is HERE! He came, He saw, He conquered. Christ did all that more powerfully than any Roman Caesar or earthly ruler, emperor, dictator, president, or king! Those earthly rulers defeated their fellow man through death and destruction. Christ defeated death, and in exchange gave mankind abundant life! Better still, while earthly rulers and their reigns pass away, Christ remains. He is with us in plain sight, yet hidden to the senses under the appearance of bread and wine. He will never pass away. Christ Jesus, Victor, Christ, Jesus Ruler! Christ Jesus, Lord and Redeemer!
The glorious truth is this. You, I, and all of the natural world around us will come to an end, but THAT IS NOT THE END! Remember Grace perfects nature. And through the Grace of God you, I, and the world are made new! God’s life, found in the Church, gives this time of the year everything it needs to be as good as it can be. Reality shows us the end is near, but God gives us HOPE and JOY. CHRIST the KING, our King, is on His throne and nothing can move Him. While His Kingdom is not of this world, through the Church, her worship, her Sacraments, and the Scriptures entrusted to her care, we can live in union with God in His Kingdom, even now on earth. Often the moment of consecration is described as the moment when Heaven and Earth kiss, they are one. How good is our God? Very Good, indeed.
Take this “Nov-end-ber” to make ready for the three comings of Christ: His first coming at Christmas, His coming into your daily life, His second coming at the end of time. Remember you are all sons and daughters of The Most High King, so humbly secure your crowns, and come to know, love, and serve God in life so that you might be happy with Him, forever, in the next.
See…I told you it would get better. Happy Feast Day!