Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 158
Reading I
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.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (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.
R. 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.
R. 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.
R. You are my inheritance, O Lord!
Reading II
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.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Be vigilant at all times
and pray that you have the strength to stand before the Son of Man.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
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."
MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS,
As we approach the end of Ordinary Time and look forward to The Season of Advent, the Scripture Readings concentrate more on Final Judgement and The Second Coming of Jesus Christ. They remind us that we all have a destination and that, at the end of our journey, we will be presented with two scenarios: an eternity with God or an eternity without Him. This is where there is a final divergence in our journey of faith and there will be a choice before us. There really isn’t much of a difference between the choice at the end of our journey and the choices that we have been making constantly throughout our existence. The only thing that makes it different is that it will be a last choice with eternal consequences. It can be argued that, for many individuals, the final choice has already been made and is reflected by our daily conduct, influenced by our relationship with God. That being the case, it would then seem logical that many of us are living with the consequences of the choice now and are using it as the guiding principle in our lives. Confident in the final choice that we might have made; we are then challenged to construct the rest of our lives around the concept of the final choice to make everything fit into the repercussions of it.
We are given a small glimpse of what to expect when Jesus’ Second Coming finally manifests, but the exact time is not given. The reasons for this are many, but none including the event itself should be of greater importance when trying to relate them to our faith-life. Each on their own should influence it, but none should be the overall guiding force. Jesus’ Second Coming in all His glory will signify a completion of The Divine Plan, where all of Christ’s enemies are defeated and the Kingdom of God is ready to be handed over to The Father: a new Heaven and Earth. Until that time, Jesus Christ dwells amongst us and we are commissioned to build up that New Kingdom here on this earth through all our thoughts and actions. We are the workers in the field preparing the harvest and preparing ourselves. Whatever events are occurring that preclude The Final Harvest and the end of all things should be of no concern to us. We are only asked to be aware that events greater than ourselves are unfolding before us and that we are a part of The Divine Plan. It is not the job of the slave to know everything his master is doing; only to do the job he was assigned to do. If we do what is expected of us, then we will receive what was promised to us. We can be joyous in the knowledge that our master will be true to His word.
In the celebration of the mass, after the Our Father is recited, the priest says,
“Deliver us, Lord, we pray from every evil, graciously grant peace in our days, that, by the help of your mercy, we may be always free from sin and safe from all distress, as we await the blessed hope and the coming of our savior, Jesus Christ.”
Jesus Christ does not want us distressed or fearful of anything that comes from Him. Only goodness and joy come from God. He wants us to be prepared and filled with expectation of all things to come. What is being described in The Book of Daniel and in The Gospel Reading are events that will be taking place around us but not directly aimed at us. We are spectators in the negative but participators in all the positive. As God said through Daniel, “ At that time your people shall escape, everyone who is found written in the book… 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." We are God’s people, and we are the wise. God wants us to be aware and act accordingly. There is much to do and much to participate in.
The Letter to the Hebrews reminds us that Jesus Christ has already made the sacrifice of Himself for all of our sins. We have been forgiven, claimed our birthright, and now are destined for glory. We see evil and know its final destiny. We see bad and know where it leads. We are walking in The Light of Christ and those things are not a part of us. It is The Light of Christ which defines us and guides us away from all that can lure us into the darkness. What we read today is further instruction so as to remain in The Light and to rejoice in the knowledge of where we are going. It is also an invitation for everyone to join us on this wonderful journey. We can be comforted with the understanding that, whatever is happening now, we will be meeting our Father face to face in eternal glory.
Deacon Tom
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