33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
C
Malachi 3:19-20; 2 Thessalonians 3:7-12; Luke 21:5-19How am I living in the now? God has mapped out a plan for me...am I aware of my gifts and living my life in a way that my gifts are being shared? What will my life be like after I die? What am I going to do after I die? What are my obligations to God...to the people in my life...to myself? Do I feel that death is going to avoid me? Am I living in this way? These last Sundays in the Church year are times when the liturgies say, ‘Stop’...’Reflect on your life and your death; be in contact with God and the ‘End Time.’
When I was young I never thought that I would live to be 72; that is where I’m at now. I certainly never thought that God would bring me through all these priestly experiences and that I would be thinking of the afterlife a lot more. I had this ‘invincible feeling’ to some degree that ‘when I got old’ I could start being more realistic about my ‘future’ with God. I love the quote of Pope John XXIII from retreat when he was 76: ‘It is time to start simplifying my life.’
Michael Kent in Bringing the Word to Life states: “Where is your heart? Do your relationships with others help, or prevent, you from being a true disciple of Christ? How do you view the things you own? Are you so concerned about your possessions that little else matters in life, especially the state of your soul? What might you need to renounce to fulfill your Christian destiny and become a more loving person? Is it your vindictiveness, laziness, stubbornness; your need to have the last word or have things always go your way? Might you even need to renounce your depression, always feeling sorry for yourself, or thinking only of your own problems? Be willing to detach yourself from whatever restricts your loving spirit.”
Paul is giving his readers this example of himself: ‘his own conduct is beyond reproach...he has not presumed upon the hospitality of others...he is not a financial burden to people; he works hard and tells others to do so.’ Why is Paul saying this? It could be that since some people thought that Jesus’ final coming was imminent, why should they work, why not just wait for the Lord? Paul is saying that it’s good to be ready for the Lord, but that means obeying the Lord in every area of their lives: in their prayer life, in their work life and in their family life. That’s why he is putting himself up as an example.
In Luke’s gospel, which was written after Mark and Matthew’s, the expectation of the second coming had diminished. They still believed that the end was coming but it was clear that the Church would have to live in the present world for the foreseeable future. Jesus addresses this issue as He looks on the beauty of the temple. He tells each person that they must be attentive to the signs of the times. There will be persecutions how will each person: are they going to give up or give in to the pressures of the ruling countries? There will be betrayal by families and friends who give up on the way and teachings of Jesus; does that mean that people disregard what Jesus said?
Jesus says that there will be much evil in the world which will attempt to allure all Christians from the ‘Christian way. The way to live and react to this is to always be grounded in Jesus and in the faith. It comes down to how am I being a person of God?
I read this Anonymous tale: “There
was once a merchant in Bagdad who sent his servant to market to buy
provisions. The servant returned a short time later, white and
trembling.
‘Master,’
he cried, ‘just now when I was in the market place I was jostled by
a woman in the crowd and when I turned I saw that it was Death that
jostled me! She looked at me and made a threatening gesture.
Please, lend me your horse, so that I can ride away from this place
and avoid my fate. I will go to Samarra there Death will not find
me.’
The
merchant lent him his horse and the terrified servant mounted the
animal, dug his spurs into its flanks and galloped away as fast as he
could.
The
merchant then went into the market place and saw, standing in the
crowd, the woman who had terrified his servant.
‘Why
did you make such a threatening gesture to my servant when you saw
him this morning?’
Death replied, ‘That was not
a threatening gesture. It was a start of surprise. I was astonished
to see him in Bagdad, for I had an appointment with him tonight in
Samarra.’”Jay Cormier the editor of Connections says this: “We foolishly believe that somehow death does not apply to us, that we are invincible, that we will go on forever. But, as Jesus warns us in the terrifying images of today’s Gospel, the time we are given in this life is precious – God gives us this gift of life to embrace and be embraced by the love that is uniquely of God. Jesus calls us not to be obsessed with the ‘stones’ that will one day collapse and become dust but to seek instead the lasting things of the soul, the things of God. May love that never ends, compassion that never fades, forgiveness that never falters be the focus of our journey to the eternal dwelling place of God.” So I reflect on:
- Why do people seem to get caught up in following an errant
person that leads people away from God? Does this ever attract me?
- I look back at the times that I have been challenged or
threatened by others because of my belief in Christian values: some
just wanted to start a fight...some wanted an approval for the
contrary way of life they were living and thus wanted to make a
‘fool’ of me...some just enjoyed the ‘world, the flesh and the
devil’. Did I rely on the Spirit’s grace and power or did I
rely on myself?
Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do. Pope John XXIII
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