33^rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

1. As we approach the end of the Church’s year, the liturgy of the month of November tends to point us towards the last things: death, judgement, heaven and hell. In fact, our prayer for the Holy Souls during the month of November draws us inevitably into these mysteries.

2. And so the prophet Malachi today talks in the first reading of the coming of the day when evil-doers will be burnt up and the virtuous will be vindicated. And Jesus himself in today’s gospel predicts the destruction of the Temple and speaks somewhat darkly of cataclysmic events which apparently must precede the end times. It is not difficult to discern however vaguely the idea of judgement in these references. It is always salutary for the believer to ponder his death and judgment, and to examine his conscience and the quality of his response to the Gospel.

3. At the same time an excessive attention to these last things has proved to be misleading for some believers. We get a glimpse of that in today’s second reading. Some Christians of the early community at Thessalonika were convinced that Jesus was to return very soon, imminently in fact. For that reason, they ceased living their normal lives and stopped doing their work The Apostle Paul reproves them: “Now we hear that there are some of you who are living in idleness, doing no work themselves but interfering with everyone else’s. In the Lord Jesus Christ, we order and call on people of this kind to go on quietly working and earning the food that they eat.”  The coming of the Lord, the last things, these mysteries are not meant to paralyse us. These mysteries are meant to call us to conversion and faith, to greater love, to sanctify our daily lives with prayer,  work and service, so that we are ready for whatever comes,

4. And Jesus warns us not to be deceived by people who claim to know when all these things will happen, for, as he says, “the end is not so soon”. And what he describes as the trials of his Church, persecutions from without, dissension within, scorn from the world, these are the experience of every generation of Christian. Every generation of Jesus’ followers has had to undergo these trials to their faith. What we are currently experiencing in the way of loss of faith within the church and a new intolerance of religion in the world around us is undoubtedly our trial of faith in our times.

5. And to us, Jesus says, “Your endurance will win you your lives.” In his name, my dear brothers and sisters, I encourage you with his words: “Your endurance will win you your lives.” Hold on to your faith. Pass it on to your children, Say your prayers. Be faithful to the Mass and the Sacraments. Love one another. Cherish family life. Defend the sacredness of human life. Work tirelessly for justice and for peace. Protect God’s creation. This is what the Lord means by endurance. This is how we live our lives. This is how we prepare for death and for judgment, so that we can pass with the holy souls through the cleansing fire of divine love to be numbered with all the saints in the glory of heaven.

Christ the King, Howwood

18^th November 2007