Luke 21:5-19 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time November 13, 2022 “See that you not be deceived, for many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he,’ and ‘The time has come.’ Do not follow them!
Luke 20:27-38 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time November 6, 2022 Jesus said to them, “The children of this age marry and remarry; but those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age and to the resurrection of the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. They can no longer die, for they are like angels; and they are the children of God because they are the ones who will rise.
November 5, 2022
Luke 23:35-43 Solemnity of Christ the King November 20, 2022 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” He replied to him, “Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.
November 19, 2022
33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Malachi 3:19-20
2 Thessalonians 3:7-12
Luke 21:5-19
A. Text/Context
• The gospel today tells us of the prophecy of Jesus about the total destruction of the temple in Jerusalem
• True to what was prophesied by Jesus, just a few years after his death the Romans attacked Jerusalem and the beautiful temple was leveled to the ground by the rampage of the Romans
• Not a single stone was left from the magnificent temple as they believed that treasures are hidden between the stones and so every stone has to be uncovered by the looters but they found no treasures
• Thus the prophecy of Jesus was really fulfilled and what are the signs?
• Sporadic wars in the different places of the globe, powerful earthquakes and all forms of calamitous weather like hurricanes, famines, asteroids falling and planets colliding each other causing powerful cataclysms all over the universe
• It’s terrifying. And with all these things happening would you believe that the end of our times is near because all the signs about the end times are already here
• At the end of the gospel Jesus finally reminded his disciples to brace themselves because they will be handed over to authorities in the impending persecutions against them but Jesus will be the one who will protect them
B. Human Situation
• Well, at present, the whole world has already experienced the worst of all calamities be it natural or man-made
• And further if we think of what the scientist have predicted that the planets will all go out of their orbits and collide with each other, then, certainly that will be the end of the existence of our human civilization
• But you see, still, the world has not yet ended and nobody can really tell when will it happen
• If such time of universal destruction arrives and it will certainly arrive because Jesus himself said so in the Scriptures, then, the preparation is to start now
• We cannot rely much on the time element, whether the scientists are correct it doesn’t really matter, it is not important
• The focus of our preparation must be something spiritual
• Well, if we have not trampled on the rights of others, we have not been dishonest, we have been charitable, etc. Then, we don’t have to worry
• The person who has no guilt of conscience possesses the calmness of heart and the serenity of soul
• Of course, if all those cataclysms will come, we will all be terrified but the difference is there we are ready
C. Challenge
• So, the message that the gospel brings us today is that our preparation for the Parousia must be focused on how good we run our own lives
• Where we are now, we start from there performing with love and devotion all our ordinary duties
• In preparing for the return of our Lord, the master must find us busy and active with our daily obligations
• This is what St. Paul said in the 2nd reading in the Thessalonians
• We don’t have to resign from work to work full time in the Church, or go home to your native town to serve your own people
• We renew ourselves right from where we are
• At home and at work we have to perform our duties faithfully as expected according to the state of life where we belong
• The spiritual preparation does not mean that we have to attend hundreds of masses or pray thousands of rosaries
• In this very busy world that we live sometimes we are hampered and so taken by our obligations and we cannot pray anymore
• We have journey inwards and reflect on the wrongs that we did in our lives and start making amends and restitutions
• If we have offended somebody, ask for an apology, if we have wronged someone, ask for forgiveness, if you have been dishonest to your husband or wife, be faithful this time
• If you have been so selfish, be more charitable, if you have been impatient, be more accommodating
• And should the Parousia come tomorrow no time anymore to bend our knees in front of the altar or go to confession or pray the rosary, or to recite the novena or make a phone call to say sorry
• No more. On the final day everybody will be very unexpecting, very unprepared and we will all just be gasping and panting in horror
• In the 1st reading in the book of the prophet Malachi it tells us that the day will arrive blazing like an oven and it will consume everything from the branches to the last root
• But for the righteous, the sun of justice will shine with its healing rays
• We then as Christians must be ready for the great day of cleansing and purification by preparing the good seeds of love and forgiveness to bloom in our hearts now
• After the day of doom, when the Lord comes, he will gather all his faithful children because we have already rendered the final accounting of all the good things that we did
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