33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, November 14, 2021

/

Be joyful; live now as if the kingdom were already here

Mark 13:24–32

“But 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.”

Music Meditations

Opening Prayer

Adapted from Sacred Space, a service of the Irish Jesuits:

Presence: As I sit here, the beating of my heart, The ebb and flow of my breathing, the movement of my mind Are all the signs of your ongoing creation in me. I pause for a minute, and become aware of this presence of God within me; Pause Freedom: Lord, grant me the grace to have freedom of the spirit. Cleanse my heart and soul So that at every moment I may live joyously in your love.

Companions for the Journey

From “First Impressions”, a service of the Southern Dominican Province, by Jude Siciliano, O.P., 2021

I was reading a newspaper on a park bench a while back, before the pandemic, and was approached by a young couple who both carried bibles and wanted to talk to me about the coming end of the world. They got my attention! I admired their missionary zeal (wish our church had more of it) and their sincerity, so we talked. Using quotes similar to today’s first and third readings, I was given the “key” to understanding when all this was going to happen. These pandemic days, accompanied by global warming and violent weather incidents have had a lot of people talking about the end times – dates, times and portents. I must admit the approaching new year has me wondering and a bit anxious about what dark clouds await our country and our world. The young couple in the park were sure it was all about to end – everything. “Me too,” I thought as I glanced at the headlines of the newspaper I was reading. I longed for all the suffering of humans and our lovely planet to end, and a final peace be declared – forever.

Today’s first and third readings are pieces of apocalyptical literature. There are people who claim to have a “bible code” and an ability to determine dates and times when the cataclysmic events portrayed in the readings will occur. All this preoccupation with figuring when all these things will happen is really a distraction because apocalyptical readings in the scriptures are meant to be a consolation, not a means to predict events, or scare people about what lies ahead.

The writers of this genre of literature are writing in a time of collapse, persecutions, loss of ideals, despair and faith under duress (sound familiar?) that characterized the 200 years prior to and after the birth of Christ. Writers from both testaments found it necessary to offer assurances and comfort to the faithful: good will triumph, God will reign, evil will be finally overcome. This message needs to be reaffirmed for our time, not as a way of putting off doing anything about the problems in our world, but as a way of reassuring us when we don’t see a lot of results from our labors. God has not abandoned us and will bring to completion what God has promised and what we are working so hard to bring about.

This Gospel selection is an example of apocalyptical writing. Like the first reading, this is not a prediction of the future, but an attempt to help the suffering Christian community, for whom Mark was writing, keep faith and be comforted by the assurance that God will bring victory in the future. Mark’s Gospel stresses that with Jesus’ death, a final age had started and the end was near. When the Temple was destroyed in the year 70, it looked like the end was about to happen. When it didn’t, the next Gospels (Matthew and Luke) had to rethink the Parousia (Jesus’ second coming); it wasn’t to happen as soon as Mark expected.

Mark, like us, was waiting for Christ to come “with great power and glory” to bring an end to suffering and oppression. All that Christ taught about the forgiveness of sins, his authority, the promise of life, the victory over evil, and the triumph over death, would be accomplished. For Christians still engaged in the struggle, this glimpse into the assured future must have been very helpful and encouraging.

Each generation must deal with this teaching about the end of the world, or worlds, we have known. We already have known many endings in our lifetime. We don’t have to be morbid or pessimistic about how things will end, but reflecting on the end of our world may help put things in perspective. I heard someone pray at mass this morning, “Thank you God for this day.” I think that person sees things in the perspective of this Gospel, appreciating the present in the light of the future. The world will end, but how are we now living in it? We are invited to welcome each moment, live it fully, grow in love for God and others. Jesus says that we don’t know what hour will be our last – so let this hour be important. We Americans live so much in the future, we plan how things will be when we get out of school, settle into a job, marry, retire, get the kids through school, etc. We need to look and plan for the future, but we cherish “this day” and God’s presence to us at this moment with all the opportunities this moment offers us.

The fig tree is used as an example and it stirs us memories for me. I remember my grandfather’s two fig trees in his backyard in Brooklyn. After they bore fruit, their leaves would fall off and the trees would look dead. He would cut back the branches, tie up the trimmed trees and wrap them in black tar paper to protect them from the winter cold. They looked dead, wrapped in black tar paper, as if in shrouds. Miracle of miracles, each spring, once they were unwrapped, they would sprout new branches, grow leaves and by August we would have another harvest of dark succulent figs again.

Maybe that’s why Jesus uses the fig tree as an example of the coming of the Son of Man. Ancient civilizations considered the fig tree a symbol of peace and fruitfulness. In hot climates it provided abundant shade from the heat and was a rich source of food. It’s growth in Spring was seen as a sign of the coming of summer and a promise of fruit at harvest time. Mark sees the struggles in faith of his community and the accompanying persecutions they suffered, as a sure sign of the harvest that was coming when Christ would return.

Jesus seems to be saying it is useless to wonder about when all will be finalized. The passage calls for the community to stay alert. It must have been a comfort to those who were suffering for their faith. They had the kinds of questions believers have always pondered – why must good people suffer? Why do they get sick? Why does a child die? Why is the world so violent towards the innocent? Why doesn’t an all-powerful God do something to change the way things are? If God loves us, why must we suffer so? Doesn’t our faith in Jesus mean anything in God’s eyes? Both Daniel and Mark are reminders to our faith that God has promised to be with us no matter what we must suffer and to bring to completion the victory promised us today.

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today’s session…

Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

Living the Good News

What action can you take in the next week as a response to today’s reading and discussion?

Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions or the meditations which follow:

Reflection Questions

  • From Paul Gallagher, OFM:
    Do you know people who seem to have planned very well for their future?
    Do you also know people who do not plan for the future but live with more of a day to day focus?
    How are these two groups of people different?
    Which way do you think you lean?
  • Have you ever gone through an experience that felt like the destruction of the world as you understood it in order to come to a new understanding of yourself or your way of looking at the world about you?
    Do you know others who have had unsettling periods in their life?
    Why does seem to happen to some people?
    What resources came to my aid in those moments?
  • Is there anyone in my life facing a moment of great change or challenge? What can I do to help?
  • Do I really believe that Jesus will be with me in my darkest hour?
    What can I do ensure a closer relationship with Jesus so that I more aware of his sustaining presence in my lie?
  • Can you recall times in your life when you have had to wait for things that were fairly important to you and did not know when you would get your results? (ie. The results of a medical test, test scores for nationally standardized test, acceptance letter to college, approval for a house or car loan) How do you handle not knowing when you will actually be informed?
  • What elements of our modern culture keep us from examining our lives too closely? Why do we seek this escapism?
  • Do you think about the end of the world very often? Why or Why not?
    How do you think the end of the world will happen?
    Does the thought of the end of the world frighten you or comfort you?
  • What are some ways to live fully in the moment?
  • Where do I find joy in my life?
    Where is Jesus in my life right now?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Augustinian Style/Relationship:

Recite the Our Father aloud.
Silently reflect on the ways you might see it as a prayer for the full coming of God’s kingdom, and share those thoughts with Jesus.
Recite it again.

A Meditation in the Ignatian Style/Imagination:

As the liturgical year winds down, and as winter closes in, (and as exams loom ever larger in our consciousness) we are encouraged to take stock of where we are in our lives (culminating, of course, in the firm resolutions we make every New Year’s eve). Imagine that the time has come to put all before God. Are you ready to meet God, or are there things left undone? If God were to ask you individually where you have put your energies in this past year, what would you answer? Is there anything you would change?

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions:

Psalm 16, says David Pleins in his book The Psalms (Orbis Books 1993), is a psalm of trust. God is seen as a “refuge” and a “haven”. “The psalmist sees divine presence in places where insecurity might dominate.” What insecurities in your life might be lessened somewhat by a firm trust in the Lord? What makes your heart rejoice, your soul be glad? Imagine God talking to you in the words of this psalm (for example: “I will preserve you, my child, take refuge in me…” or “I will put into your heart a marvelous love…”). How does the knowledge that God is there for you in good times and in bad make you feel?

A Meditation in the Ignatian Style/Imagination:

Imagine you are one of the disciples who simply pointed out the size of the stones in the Temple, and were treated to a disquisition on the end of the world as you know it. How did you feel, happy or frightened? Why?

Then imagine you are one of the audience for this very first gospel, written some 35 years after the death of Jesus. What has been going on in your religious community at this time? What has been going on in your world? How happy are you with these predictions? Are they a comfort or a warning, or both?

Now look around you at the time and place in history you are inhabiting in 2021. What is the state of the world? What is the state of the Church? What is the state of your life? When you hear these words read aloud, what is your immediate response? Do you see this passage as scientific prediction or metaphor? If you see it as metaphor, what does this metaphor tell you about your faith and about yourself? Does it make you fear for the future or does it make you determined to live fully in the present? What does living fully mean for you?

A Meditation in the Augustinian Style/Relationship:

Read the gospel and maybe the reading from Daniel and let certain phrases stick with you. Which symbols from Daniel and Mark are the most arresting for you? Why do they capture your attention? What does God seem to be saying to you? How would you like to respond to God? Write or pray your own response.

Poetic Reflection:

Catherine of Siena, a Dominican nun and a Doctor of the Church, (1347-1380) approaches the issue of the end of OUR world with a profound message of hope. Do you see it?

“Live Without Thought of Dying”
We work so hard to fly
and no matter what heights we reach
our wings get folded near a candle,
at the end,

for nothing can enter God but Himself.
Our souls are some glorious substance of the divine
that no sentry wants to stop.

Live without thought of dying,
for dying is not a truth.

We have swayed on the sky's limb together,
many years there the same leaves grow.

But then they get that look in their eyes
and bid farewell to what they distained or cherished.

This life He gave the shell, the daily struggles we know,
sit quiet for a minute, dear, feel the wind,
let Light touch you.

Live without thought of dying,
for dying is not a
truth
Poetic Reflection:

This poem by the “modern” poet Robert Frost gives us a slightly different take on today’s readings. Do you agree with him?

“Fire and Ice”

Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice

Closing Prayer

Dear Jesus, help me to live fully for today. Trusting in your eternal love and care. Keep me on the path of your grace, hoping to share eternal life with you, whenever it may come. Guide all who are troubled, worried, in pain or in sorrow to the comfort of your presence in their lives, here and hereafter. [Think of one or more specific people to hold up in prayer.] Be with them, Lord.