Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 154

Reading 1

Wisdom 6:12-16

Resplendent and unfading is wisdom,
and she is readily perceived by those who love her,
and found by those who seek her.
She hastens to make herself known in anticipation of their desire;
Whoever watches for her at dawn shall not be disappointed,
for he shall find her sitting by his gate.
For taking thought of wisdom is the perfection of prudence,
and whoever for her sake keeps vigil
shall quickly be free from care;
because she makes her own rounds, seeking those worthy of her,
and graciously appears to them in the ways,
and meets them with all solicitude.
 

 

 

 

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 63:2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8

R. (2b) My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.
O God, you are my God whom I seek;
for you my flesh pines and my soul thirsts
like the earth, parched, lifeless and without water.
R. My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.
Thus have I gazed toward you in the sanctuary
to see your power and your glory,
For your kindness is a greater good than life;
my lips shall glorify you.
R. My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.
Thus will I bless you while I live;
lifting up my hands, I will call upon your name.
As with the riches of a banquet shall my soul be satisfied,
and with exultant lips my mouth shall praise you.
R. My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.
I will remember you upon my couch,
and through the night-watches I will meditate on you:
You are my help,
and in the shadow of your wings I shout for joy.
R. My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.
 

Reading 2

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

We do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters,
about those who have fallen asleep,
so that you may not grieve like the rest, who have no hope. 
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose,
so too will God, through Jesus,
bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 
Indeed, we tell you this, on the word of the Lord,
that we who are alive,
who are left until the coming of the Lord,
will surely not precede those who have fallen asleep.
For the Lord himself, with a word of command,
with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God,
will come down from heaven,
and the dead in Christ will rise first. 
Then we who are alive, who are left,
will be caught up together with them in the clouds
to meet the Lord in the air. 
Thus we shall always be with the Lord. 
Therefore, console one another with these words.
 

or

1 Thessalonians 4:13-14

We do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters,
about those who have fallen asleep,
so that you may not grieve like the rest, who have no hope. 
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose,
so too will God, through Jesus,
bring with him those who have fallen asleep.
 

Alleluia

Matthew 24:42a, 44

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Stay awake and be ready!
For you do not know on what day your Lord will come.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
 

Gospel

Matthew 25:1-13

Jesus told his disciples this parable:
"The kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins
who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 
Five of them were foolish and five were wise. 
The foolish ones, when taking their lamps,
brought no oil with them,
but the wise brought flasks of oil with their lamps. 
Since the bridegroom was long delayed,
they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
At midnight, there was a cry,
'Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!'
Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps. 
The foolish ones said to the wise,
'Give us some of your oil,
for our lamps are going out.'
But the wise ones replied,
'No, for there may not be enough for us and you.
Go instead to the merchants and buy some for yourselves.'
While they went off to buy it,
the bridegroom came
and those who were ready went into the wedding feast with him. 
Then the door was locked.
Afterwards the other virgins came and said,
'Lord, Lord, open the door for us!'
But he said in reply,
'Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.'
Therefore, stay awake,
for you know neither the day nor the hour."
 

MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS,

There is an obsession among many Christians, leaders and followers alike, to try and predict when Jesus Christ is to come again in all of His glory to judge the living and the dead, thus ushering in End Times. Some claim to know the exact time, while there are others who proclaim that the time is near and there must be repentance and adherence to what they say. I remember growing up in the 1970’s and 1980’s being bombarded by this message. From televangelists to street corner preachers, the urgency was powerful and frightening. Many pointed to the year 2000 as the beginning of the Tribulation and a foreshadowing of the end. This caused me great anxiety and many sleepless nights. How was I as a young boy to look forward to the future when the entire world was to come to an end soon after I was to become a young man?

 

Interestingly enough, it appeared that a large percentage of an entire generation of Christians forgot the words of Jesus Christ,

 

“As for the exact day hour, no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”

 

 This obsession grew out of a Cult of Personality and hubris (acting godlike). Those who spoke often claimed to have the answers, thus creating a dependence on themselves while also creating a very comfortable living and a livelihood throughout the process. Jesus warned us of this,

 

“Be on guard against false prophets who come to you disguised in sheep’s clothing, but who inwardly are ravenous wolves.”

 

Jesus does not want Himself to be a source of anxiety or fear. He is the answer to these things and not the cause. Nothing bad or negative comes from God. God, being the perfect good, can only produce that which is good. Things that are not good do not originate from God. Once we embrace this concept, we can be more apt to turn our lives and will over to God, transforming ourselves in this life and the next.

 

With wisdom comes an understanding of certain things;an understanding not only of how they work, but a larger concept of how things truly are and why. God, being the creator of all things, also is the source of all wisdom. The more we pursue wisdom, the better we will understand God, thus deepening our relationship with Him. We will then become closer as a result and more comfortable with Him. With comfort comes familiarity, and then finally love. His love for us is so powerful that He gave His only begotten Son up for death so that we may obtain eternal life. The heavy lifting has already been done and we just need to follow Him to get the result that has been promised. The reading from the Book of Wisdom tells us that pursuing wisdom is the key to enlightenment, which will always bring us back to God:

 

“For taking thought of wisdom is the perfection of prudence,
and whoever for her sake keeps vigil
shall quickly be free from care.”

 

Wisdom brings about knowledge, understanding, and experience. When these come to us, it immediately sets us at ease and brings comfort. Wisdom coming from God, means that seeking it, ultimately brings us back to God. This then becomes an encounter with the perfect good. Here you can have no negative thoughts, emotions, or occurrences. Jesus is the healer and God becomes the answer. We cannot have any bigger answer than that.

 

The act of preparation in the Parable of the Ten Virgins reminds us that getting ready for the Coming of Jesus Christ is both wise and prudent. Preparing for Jesus means that we are getting to know Him and are reacting to His presence in our lives. This becomes a benefit for the present as well as for the future. If Jesus is with us, it means that we are concentrating on things of the spirit instead of the flesh. Our lives will become better as a result while also putting us in a positive position regarding Final Judgement. The more wisdom we obtain, the better position we will find ourselves in.

 

The Apostle Paul tells us not to mourn for those who have died, but to be comforted with the fact that all of us who believe are destined for the same end: an eternity with God. With this promise should come relief. It should also bring about an understanding that we who know these things are expected to conduct ourselves in a way expected of those who posses the truth and the wisdom that flows from it.

 

Abbot Christian Lesey writes,

 

“Our call in the Church as baptized Christians is to meet the Lord each and every day, and in a special way when we come to die. We are being invited to nothing less than the eternal banquet with its delights beyond our imagining.”

 

Meeting Jesus every means we are in a constant state of preparation for a joyous feast. So, we must do this with happiness instead of with fear and anxiety. Happiness then transforms into joy, knowing that just the mere act of preparation opens a door to something greater in our lives.

Deacon Tom

 

Solemnity of All Saints

Lectionary: 667

Reading 1

Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14

I, John, saw another angel come up from the East,
holding the seal of the living God.
He cried out in a loud voice to the four angels
who were given power to damage the land and the sea,
"Do not damage the land or the sea or the trees
until we put the seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God."
I heard the number of those who had been marked with the seal,
one hundred and forty-four thousand marked
from every tribe of the children of Israel.

After this I had a vision of a great multitude,
which no one could count,
from every nation, race, people, and tongue.
They stood before the throne and before the Lamb,
wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands.
They cried out in a loud voice:

"Salvation comes from our God, who is seated on the throne,
and from the Lamb."

All the angels stood around the throne
and around the elders and the four living creatures.
They prostrated themselves before the throne,
worshiped God, and exclaimed:

"Amen. Blessing and glory, wisdom and thanksgiving,
honor, power, and might
be to our God forever and ever. Amen."

Then one of the elders spoke up and said to me,
"Who are these wearing white robes, and where did they come from?"
I said to him, "My lord, you are the one who knows."
He said to me,
"These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress;
they have washed their robes
and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb."

 

 

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 24:1bc-2, 3-4ab, 5-6

R. (see 6) Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.
The LORD's are the earth and its fullness;
the world and those who dwell in it.
For he founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the rivers.
R. Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.
Who can ascend the mountain of the LORD?
or who may stand in his holy place?
One whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean,
who desires not what is vain.
R. Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.
He shall receive a blessing from the LORD,
a reward from God his savior.
Such is the race that seeks him,
that seeks the face of the God of Jacob.
R. Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.

Reading 2

1 John 3:1-3

Beloved:
See what love the Father has bestowed on us
that we may be called the children of God.
Yet so we are.
The reason the world does not know us
is that it did not know him.
Beloved, we are God's children now;
what we shall be has not yet been revealed.
We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him,
for we shall see him as he is.
Everyone who has this hope based on him makes himself pure,
as he is pure.

Alleluia

Matthew 11:28

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
And I will give you rest, says the Lord.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

Matthew 5:1-12a

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain,
and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him.
He began to teach them, saying:

"Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the land.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the clean of heart,
for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,
for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you
and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me.
Rejoice and be glad,
for your reward will be great in heaven."

The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed
(All Souls)

Lectionary: 668

The following are a selection of the readings that may be chosen for this day.

Reading I

Wisdom 3:1-9

The souls of the just are in the hand of God,
    and no torment shall touch them.
They seemed, in the view of the foolish, to be dead;
    and their passing away was thought an affliction
    and their going forth from us, utter destruction.
But they are in peace.
For if before men, indeed, they be punished,
    yet is their hope full of immortality;
chastised a little, they shall be greatly blessed,
    because God tried them
    and found them worthy of himself.
As gold in the furnace, he proved them,
    and as sacrificial offerings he took them to himself.
In the time of their visitation they shall shine,
    and shall dart about as sparks through stubble;
they shall judge nations and rule over peoples,
    and the Lord shall be their King forever.
Those who trust in him shall understand truth,
    and the faithful shall abide with him in love:
because grace and mercy are with his holy ones,
    and his care is with his elect.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 23:1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6

R.    (1) The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
or:
R.    Though I walk in the valley of darkness, I fear no evil, for you are with me.
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
    In verdant pastures he gives me repose;
beside restful waters he leads me;
    he refreshes my soul.
R.    The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
or:
R.    Though I walk in the valley of darkness, I fear no evil, for you are with me.
He guides me in right paths
    for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk in the dark valley
    I fear no evil; for you are at my side
with your rod and your staff
    that give me courage.
R.    The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
or:
R.    Though I walk in the valley of darkness, I fear no evil, for you are with me.
You spread the table before me
    in the sight of my foes;
You anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows.
R.    The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
or:
R.    Though I walk in the valley of darkness, I fear no evil, for you are with me.
Only goodness and kindness follow me
    all the days of my life;
and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
    for years to come.
R.    The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
or:
R.    Though I walk in the valley of darkness, I fear no evil, for you are with me.

Reading II

Romans 5:5-11

Brothers and sisters:
Hope does not disappoint,
because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts
through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. 
For Christ, while we were still helpless,
died at the appointed time for the ungodly.
Indeed, only with difficulty does one die for a just person,
though perhaps for a good person
one might even find courage to die.
But God proves his love for us
in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.
How much more then, since we are now justified by his Blood,
will we be saved through him from the wrath.
Indeed, if, while we were enemies,
we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son,
how much more, once reconciled,
will we be saved by his life.
Not only that,
but we also boast of God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Or:

Romans 6:3-9

Brothers and sisters:
Are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus 
were baptized into his death?
We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death, 
so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead 
by the glory of the Father, 
we too might live in newness of life.

For if we have grown into union with him through a death like his, 
we shall also be united with him in the resurrection.
We know that our old self was crucified with him, 
so that our sinful body might be done away with, 
that we might no longer be in slavery to sin.
For a dead person has been absolved from sin.
If, then, we have died with Christ,
we believe that we shall also live with him.
We know that Christ, raised from the dead, dies no more;
death no longer has power over him.

Alleluia

Matthew 25:34

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Come, you who are blessed by my Father;
inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

John 6:37-40

Jesus said to the crowds:
“Everything that the Father gives me will come to me,
and I will not reject anyone who comes to me,
because I came down from heaven not to do my own will
but the will of the one who sent me.
And this is the will of the one who sent me,
that I should not lose anything of what he gave me,
but that I should raise it on the last day.
For this is the will of my Father,
that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him
may have eternal life,
and I shall raise him on the last day.”

MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS,

 

Included in this writing are readings from the past two days, All Saints Day and All Souls Day. The reason for this is because the Church has just finished a three day celebration, which marks one of only two that we have all year. This one began on October 31^st with All Hallows Eve, continued with All Saints Day Sunday, and finally ends with All Souls Day on Monday. It is during these three days that we remember the dead, those who have gone before us and are either with God joined in the Communion of Saints or are in Purgatory. Throughout the month of November, these celebrations continue with the Church encouraging the living to pray for the souls of the Faithful Departed, those who have gone before us, so that they may be relieved of their sufferings in Purgatory and then continue their journey to God.

 

The Catholic Church has a long tradition of remembering the dead, asking for their prayers, and the living praying for them. Today, we continue this tradition, acknowledging that those who have gone before us are not gone, but have continued onwards to the spiritual realm where they remain with God or are preparing to meet Him (Purgatory). Regardless of where they are, we are encouraged to engage with them and are never prevented from doing so. In fact, we learn that asking for the prayers of the saints and praying for those living and dead enrichen our spiritual experiences and bring us closer to God. Many of us, living in the physical world and endowed with a physical body, tend to minimize the spiritual aspect of our existence and the presence of a soul inside of us. As we live our lives on the planet, our body engages with the world around it while our soul yearns for its Father and Creator. Being aware of the reality of the spiritual world beyond this world, is the first step to encountering a full experience of our lives physically, mentally, and spiritually.

 

As the Apostle Paul wrote,

 

“For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption, through which we cry, “Abba,* Father!”

 

He describes the crying out of the soul to God. That is our continuous state: our soul cries out to its creator while our flesh is attracted to the materialism of this world. Concentrating on the spiritual side of our existence, including praying to and praying with those who have gone before us, will bring about a deeper relationship with God and a deeper understanding of our spirituality.

 

King David writes in one of his Psalms,

 

“Oh Lord, you are my God. My body pines for you like a dry, weary land without water.”

 

This describes the innate longing and love that David has for God. His soul is pulling him, physically and mentally, towards that who loves him completely: God.

 

 

Finally, Saint Augustine writes,

 

“Late have I loved you, O Beauty so ancient, O Beauty so new.

Late have I loved you! You were within me but I was outside myself, and there I sought you!

In my weakness, I ran after the beauty of the things you have made.

You were with me, and I was not with you.

The things you have made kept me from you – the things which would have no being unless they existed in you!

You have called, you have cried, and you have pierced my deafness.

You have radiated forth, you have shined out brightly, and you have dispelled my blindness.

You have sent forth your fragrance, and I have breathed it in, and I long for you.

I have tasted you, and I hunger and thirst for you.

You have touched me, and I ardently desire your peace.”

 

These are things that happen when we become right with God and our soul is open to spiritual experiences. These spiritual experiences go far beyond that with God and include the entire spiritual realm. There is an understanding that, just as we are present here on this earth, we are to continue forward into our spiritual life after our physical demise. Our body might decay, but our soul will continue onward, united with our Resurrected Bodies and then finally joining with God with our Glorified Bodies. All of this is a process, and it is generally unbeknownst to us where others are regarding this, so we do as we are taught to do: pray. We pray for the salvation of souls and pray for the saints to intercede on our behalf by praying for us. This defines the community that we are all members of. The act of giving and receiving prayers unites all the faithful, living and dead, regardless if they are in Heaven, Purgatory, or still on this earth.

 

The benefits for these things are threefold. We are given comfort through the prayers we receive from those who have gone before us, those who are suffering in Purgatory receive comfort from our prayers, and the universal bond of our faith is felt with the barrier between the physical and spiritual being lifted completely by our actions. The Words from the Book of Wisdom ring true,

 

“The souls of the just are in the hand of God,

    and no torment shall touch them.

They seemed, in the view of the foolish, to be dead;

    and their passing away was thought an affliction

    and their going forth from us, utter destruction.

But they are in peace.”

 

chastised a little, they shall be greatly blessed,
    because God tried them
    and found them worthy of himself.
As gold in the furnace, he proved them,
    and as sacrificial offerings he took them to himself

Here we are given a vision of Purgatory and the promise of our final destination, which will be with God. More importantly, there is an understanding that we are never alone. God is with us, and all those who have gone before us become are most powerful advocates and intercessors, just as we can be for them. To do any less means that we are detaching ourselves from our spiritual community and shielding ourselves from the full impact of a relationship with God.

 

During this time of celebration and recognizing the dead, we can all make a commitment to better understand our relationship with those who are now in Heaven and those who are being cleansed in preparation in Purgatory. We can come to the understanding that we are an important part of their salvation story and they are a part of ours as well. Together, we all go forward to encounter love and victory through Jesus Christ.

 

Deacon Tom