November 15, 2015 –Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time – Lectionary: 158

 

Reading 1 – Daniel 12:  1-3

In those days, I Daniel,
heard this word of the Lord:
“At that time there shall arise
Michael, the great prince,
guardian of your people;
it shall be a time unsurpassed in distress
since nations began until that time.
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.”

 

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 16: 5, 8, 9-10, 11

1. You are my inheritance, O Lord!
   O LORD, my allotted portion and my cup,
   you it is who hold fast my lot.
   I set the LORD ever before me;
   with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed.
2. You are my inheritance, O Lord!
   Therefore my heart is glad and my soul rejoices,
   my body, too, abides in confidence;
   because you will not abandon my soul to the netherworld,
   nor will you suffer your faithful one to undergo corruption.
3. You are my inheritance, O Lord!
   You will show me the path to life,
   fullness of joys in your presence,
   the delights at your right hand forever.
4. You are my inheritance, O Lord!

 

 

 

Reading 2 – Hebrews 10: 11-14, 18

Brothers and sisters:
Every priest stands daily at his ministry,
offering frequently those same sacrifices
that can never take away sins.
But this one offered one sacrifice for sins,
and took his seat forever at the right hand of God;
now he waits until his enemies are made his footstool.
For by one offering
he has made perfect forever those who are being consecrated.

Where there is forgiveness of these,
there is no longer offering for sin.

 

GOSPEL- Mark 13: 24-32

Jesus said to his disciples:
“In those days after that tribulation
the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light,
and the stars will be falling from the sky,
and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.

“And then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in the clouds’
with great power and glory,
and then he will send out the angels
and gather his elect from the four winds,
from the end of the earth to the end of the sky.

“Learn a lesson from the fig tree.
When its branch becomes tender and sprouts leaves,
you know that summer is near.
In the same way, when you see these things happening,
know that he is near, at the gates.
Amen, I say to you,
this generation will not pass away
until all these things have taken place.
Heaven and earth will pass away,
but my words will not pass away.

“But of that day or hour, no one knows,
neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”

 

Listen to the Scriptures:  click on the link below:

 

http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/15_11_15.mp3

 

33^rd Sunday of the Year – B

 

Theme: THE PAROUSIA and the Final Judgment.  No one knows when they are to come, but we should live as if it were tomorrow.  This means a constant effort to live in the state of grace and in the presence of God.  Let us live now in full view of our end.

 

Introduction:  Today’s scriptural readings are concerned with the end of time, the end of mankind and, by implication, with our own death.  All these notions produce in us an effect of fear: they imply a threat of violence, destruction, and catastrophe.  How can they be faced in a Christian spirit?

 

Point 1: The end of time is not the end of everything.  There is no absolute good in time: it is given to us a temporary good, as something to be properly used as long as it lasts.  Time should be seen as an opportunity granted to us by a generous Creator, during which we must work at the construction of our own selves.  Stone by stone, the building must go up.  Hour after hour, we must make choices, make the most of available materials, discard weak stones and rotten beams of wood, carve and shape and smooth the days as they come to us, so that each one may become a well-polished unity of faith, hope and love.

 

Some of us have received a large share of time and an abundance of rich materials, marble and bronze and gold: we will be held accountable if we do not build true cathedrals.  Others have received much smaller natural gifts – a little adobe, a bunch of straw, and very little time to build anything with them: all we have to do is try to build a cottage of love that will have as much value in the eyes of God as the cathedrals of the gifted – and perhaps more: think of the widow’s mite.

 

Time will put an end to our efforts, but it is not the end of everything, for when our time is up, our reward is at hand – and so it is with humanity and the universe.

 

Point 2: The end of humanity is not the end of everything.  We have lived through a period of history this past century when, for the first time, humanity is able to destroy itself in a final blast of folly.  This possibility is both real and constant; it lurks as a dark shadow in the depth of every thinking mind.  Should we be afraid of it?  Would this mean that God’s purpose could be totally defeated?  Even if the worst comes and we all die in a nuclear holocaust, God is still in his heaven, his absolute power still prevails, and eternal justice will still reign forever.

 

But inspite of what man believes, he is not master of his destiny: God is.  God is the Lord of the World, the Lord of history.  In His holy providence, he can see to it that humanity does not destroy itself.

 

Point 3: Our own death is not the end of everything.  For those who live in the pursuit of temporal goods alone – pleasure, power, wealth, or fame – death may certainly be seen as final and complete destruction, for nothing of what they seek endures beyond it.  But for those who love God and neighbor and themselves, and God’s gift of life and the glories of the earth, death will come as final perfecting of all they ever sought.  As a poet put it, “In my end is my beginning.”

 

Conclusion:  Let us then live now in full view of our end, without excessive concern of fear, with the full knowledge that time will end, that humanity will end, and that our own lives on earth will end.  And let us remember this quotation from Henry Van Dyke: “Time is too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for those who rejoice, but for those who love, time is not.”

 

 

QUESTIONS THAT MAY LEAD TO OTHER THOUGHTS / REFLECTIONS/

 

 

1. Do you live as if your life on earth were to last another thousand years?

 

2. How can you make the thought of death a positive reality without allowing it to become an obsession or a frightful thought?

 

3. Have you ever witnessed or read about the death of a saint?

 

4. Do you judge others instead of leaving judgment to God?

 

5. When is the right time to begin repenting?

 

 

 

 

In our multitude of discussions and sharings on the end of time in light of scripture (e.g. today’s Gospel – Mark 13: 24 – 32) we must keep in the mind the following:

 

1. It is sometimes held that when Jesus said that these things were to happen within this generation he was in error. But Jesus was right, for this sentence does not refer to the Second Coming.  It could not when the next sentence says he does not know when that day will be.  It refers to Jesus’ prophecies about the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple and they were abundantly fulfilled (within the generation he spoke of).

 

2. Jesus says that he does not know the day or the hour when he will come again. There were things which even he left without questioning in the hand of God. There can be no greater warning and rebuke to those who work out dates and timetables as to when he will come again. Surely it is nothing less than blasphemy for us to enquire into that of which our Lord consented to be ignorant.

 

3. Jesus draws a practical conclusion. We are like men who know that their master will come, but who do not know when.  We live in the shadow of eternity.  That is no reason for fearful and hysterical expectation.  But it means that day by day our work must be completed.  It means that we must so live that it does not matter when he comes.  It gives us the great task of making every day fit for him to see and being at any moment ready to meet him face to face.  All life becomes a preparation to meet the King.

 

Though such a passage might present some difficulties in the end it has some permanent truth to tell us.

 

• It tells us that only the man of God can see into the secrets of history. Jesus saw the fate of Jerusalem although others were blind to it. A real statesman must be a man of God.  To guide his country a man must be himself God-guided.  Only the man who knows God can enter into something of the plan of God.

 

• It tells us two things about the doctrine of the Second Coming.

 

1. It tells us that it contains a fact we forget or disregard at our peril.

 

1. It tells us that the imagery in which it is clothed is the imagery of Jesus’ own time, and that to speculate on it is useless, when Jesus himself was content not to know. The one thing of which we can be sure is that history is going somewhere; there is a consummation (an end) to come.

 

• It tells us that of all things to forget God and to become immersed in earth is most foolish. The wise man is he who never forgets that he must be ready when the summons comes.  If he lives in that memory, for him the end will not be terror, but eternal joy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reading I: Daniel 12:1-3
Responsorial Psalm: 16:5, 8, 9-10, 11
Reading II: Hebrews 10:11-14, 18
Gospel: Mark 13:24-32

 

Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time B – November 15, 2015

For the Church: that we may be a light in times of confusion and turmoil through our deeds of compassion and our faithful witness, let us pray to the Lord.

 

For the grace of discernment: that we may recognize the signs of the times and God’s presence and call each day, let us pray to the Lord.

 

For the gift of hope: that no matter what challenges we face, we may remain confident that with God all things are possible, let us pray to the Lord.

 

For all who have led us to justice, for teachers, pastors, parents, mentors, and spiritual directors: that God will deepen the new life within them and help them to share God’s light faithfully, let us pray to the Lord.

 

For the poor and the marginalized of our society: that they may gain better participation in the economic life of our communities, let us pray to the Lord.

 

For all who live amidst bloodshed and violence: that the blood of those who have died may spur the living to greater efforts for the establishment of peace and justice at all levels of society, let us pray to the Lord.

 

For all who are experiencing persecution for their faith, for those who have been dismissed or demoted for their belief, for those imprisoned unjustly: that God will strengthen their hearts and use their suffering to bring the Good News to their persecutors, let us pray to the Lord.

 

For all who are making commitments with hope in God’s goodness, for those getting married, becoming new parents, making religious profession, or entering new careers: that God will guide and sustain them through all the joys and sorrows of life’s journey, let us pray to the Lord.

 

For all whose world seems to be ending, for those who are grieving, who lost jobs, who have no healthcare or who have lost everything to storms or fire: that God will open new opportunities for them and give them the courage to move forth in faith, let us pray to the Lord.

 

For all who suffer with depression: that God will ease their pain and guide them to the light as they struggle with the darkness, let us pray to the Lord.

 

For the curtailment and destruction of nuclear weapons, warfare, terrorism, disease, and malnutrition: that God will bring an end to these evils and lead all nations to protect human life and enable us to live in peace, let us pray to the Lord.

 

For all who have died: that God’s love will bring healing and wholeness to all who have gone before us, let us pray to the Lord.