November 18, 2012

33^rd Sunday in Ordinary Time B

Daniel 12:1-3; Hebrews 10:11-14, 18; Mark 13: 24-32

Last week’s gospel was about the poor widow who gave such a beautiful example of putting money in for the upkeep of the Temple. Then Mark starts the 13^th chapter, these 23 verses are not in today’s reading but are a help to understand it. It’s a wonderful scene: Jesus had just left the temple with His followers and they were looking at the beauty and magnificence of the temple that still was not completed. It was completed seven years before the Romans destroyed it by fire in 70 AD. Well the disciples I’m sure had seen the Temple before but none of them lived in Jerusalem and were not frequent visitors to the capital city. They were in awe and one expressed it in this way, “’Look, teacher, what stones and what buildings!’ Jesus said to him, ‘Do you see these great buildings? There will not be one stone left upon another that will not be thrown down.’ As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple area, Peter, James, John and Andrew asked Him privately, ‘Tell us, when will this happen, and what sign will there be when all these things are about to come to an end?’”
Jesus had predicted the destruction of the Temple. Today’s passage starts at the 24^th verse after Jesus had told of more warnings of persecutions, sufferings and false prophets trying to lead people away from His example and teachings. It seems there is always a concern as to when: when will the hurricane hit; when will he propose; when will the world end; when will my life span on earth end and I go on to the paradise that Jesus promised. It is so easy to get caught up in the when. I do; is it curiosity or just wanting to know and not be in the dark. The far more important question for me is what: what am I doing as I live today, as I live my life toward the Lord. If I get caught up in speculation, I don’t pay attention to what the Lord needs me to do with the people in my life right now. At the end of the reading, Jesus says that ‘no one knows when the world as we know it will end, “neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” So what am I afraid of; that is the question? How am I living my life as a follower of Jesus today? I must be continually converted away from my way and to the Lord’s way. Am I doing this?

Fr. Michael Hayes wrote this about today’s passage, “A Japanese airliner crashed and 520 people perished. In the debris, the search group found a pocket calendar of a Japanese businessman with hastily written notes. ‘We’re not going to make it;’ I’m sad,’ To his family he wrote: ‘To think that our dinner last night was the last time we would be together.’ To his three children he wrote: ‘Be good, work hard, and help your mother.’ The end came suddenly like a thief in the night.

The point of Jesus’ remarks today is the same. None of us knows when the end of our life, or all of life on earth, will come. Therefore, we must be prepared always. We accept that, in a general sort of way, but it really doesn’t bother us. Our concerns are more immediate. Somebody once said that for every person who is worried about the end of the world, there must be at least 10,000 who aren’t. This is probably accurate. The challenge facing most of us is how to deal with life as it is, right now, today.”
So the question before me now is: am I walking around in fear or do I realize that Jesus has redeemed me and everyone? Do I realize that temptations will always be a part of my life but through the grace of the Spirit these can make me stronger in my belief and love of Jesus? Do I want to continue in my sinning ways, especially those ‘favorite sins’ of mine or do I realize that the way to closer union and intimacy with the Lord is by total conversion from my ways and living the Lord’s ways?
The point is that whether or not I live to experience the end of the world described by Jesus, I will face trials in my daily life. Some of these are the usual aches and pains of age or of relationships. Some are big, much bigger; but even in these, I am never alone and the Lord is there helping me choose Him. Do I acknowledge my gratitude and ask for help or do I fall back on ‘me’ and my way of selfishness, pride and all the rest? Do I go back to Jesus and see His comforting words that I am and all Christian believers are God’s chosen people, if each is in fact choosing to live lives for the Lord. If I do, I will be saved…whoever does, will be saved. And the Book of Revelation 21:1 shares those comforting words that all of God’s faithful will be resurrected in glory, to live in the new heaven and new earth.
In the ‘Meditations on the Gospel of Mark’ it says, “As we journey along the way, we should never hesitate to cry out to Jesus when we are in need. He who has promised to care for us even through the worst tribulations the world has ever know will see us through our own difficulties. He will not abandon those who have asked Him into their hearts. There He will reside, experiencing both our sorrows and our joys. We have nothing to fear with Jesus by our side.” It is better to realize that Jesus is within…the Trinity is in each person every moment of every day. I and each person are that important…it can only be that way since each was created in love and maintained in God’s love. So do I go within to be with and be filled with the Lord? So I reflect on:

• Sacred Space 2012 sets the tone of my reflection in today’s suggestion: “It is good to find something in life that cannot pass away. We want that: we want it in love, in our friendships, and in our trusting in the future.

The Word of God spoken in love, always a light in life, will never pass away. Prayer is our inserting of ourselves into the reality of that Word and that love.”

• Why do I think that God created me to spend eternity in heaven? What do I think my role will be there?
  
• Which teachings of Jesus can I use to measure how successful I have been at living a good Christian life?
  
• As the end of the Church year comes with next Sunday’s feast of Christ the King, how do I feel about my faith growth this year? There have been a lot of changes in my life each year, there always are; what are my plans for my faith journey as I prepare for Advent and Christmas and next year’s journey?