In the Letter to the Hebrews Saint Paul contrasts two types of priesthood: one that is futile and one that is effective. How often do I feel my ministry is futile? In what ways am I effective?

I hate to admit that I grew up amid the “dawning of the age of Aquarius,” or so the contemporary musical Hair assured me at the time.

“Following those hard times, Sun will fade out, moon cloud over, Stars fall out of the sky, cosmic powers tremble.

The special effects we see in movies have become almost perfect. The use of computer animation and graphics can create just about anything. And it all looks so real that it takes no imagination on our part.

I was a young kid excited to be downtown with my mom and my brother. Even though it seemed a bit overwhelming, I loved the excitement of the city. As we stood waiting to cross a busy intersection, a street-corner preacher started wailing through a bullhorn that the end of the world was coming—and soon!

Like a microcosm of the end-time described in today’s gospel, I have regular experiences of dark days filled with the tribulation of piled up deadlines at the office, unrelenting household chores, family responsibilities, financial worries, psychic funks, and catastrophic events, such as the illness and death of loved ones.

Let us pray that in the present hour and in the end-times to come God may find us faithful.

What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from.