Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time B   November 15, 2009

Daniel 12:1-3  Psalm: 16 Hebrews 10:11-14, 18  Mark 13:24-32

1. Scripture Commentators have said our readings for this Sunday are apocalyptical in nature. They are a Revelation. This revelation takes place in three phases just like a broad jump athlete. First there is the hard ground of facts, then there is the take off for the jump, which is a prediction or pointing out to some future event, and finally the apogee of the jump which in Revelation would be final cosmic end of the earth, of the universe.



2. The final end is see so clearly in both the book of Daniel and the Gospel. The write of the book of Daniel sees disaster and calamity such as we have never seen in all Ages. These scenes the writer promises us would make your blood congeal and your body tremble with fear. Some people would venture to say this is happening even today when we hear of horror stories of torture and imprisonment without trial, death squads and terrorist. People see such calamities on the borders of Pakistan and Afghanistan, in Iraq and the middle east and in Dafur. In the past decade, this occurred in Rwanda and Yugoslavia. This is only the physical violence. But there has also been psychological abuse and chaos in divorces, road rage, drunken shootings and revenge stabbings. It is seen in corruption in high places both in Civil Society and in the Church.

3. The Gospel picks up the scene of cosmic chaos with the sun moon and the stars in disarray and darkness. The sun will be overshadowed, the moon will disappear and the stars will fall from the heavens. Again this seems to occur in our day and time. 

We have melting ice caps and global warming, air pollution and nuclear proliferation. The attitude that some people think prevails at this time is that the earth seems to be just like the story of Noah before the flood. Eat, drink and be merry Who cares?

4. The Letter to the Hebrews is the last of six consecutive readings on the Priesthood of Christ. Like the apocalyptical readings it give us hard facts. We have sinned. We need salvation. We need to make sacrifices of reparation. However our Levitical priesthood is never enough. The priest, being a sinner himself, has to make sacrifices first for himself and then for us.

5. However, in the middle of death and decay in all around� that we see, there is Hope and Light. In our case, with our sins, we no longer have to rely on the Levitical priesthood. That was a  limited priesthood of the tribe . It depended on the rituals and the purity of the animal sacrificed. This has come to an end.

We now have a High Priest, Jesus who does not belong to the Tribe of Levi. His priesthood is an older priesthood. It is of the order of Melchisedech. This is priest anointed by God, and not appointed by men as in the case of the Levitical priesthood.

6. For this reason, we can sing in the Responsorial Psalm: You are my inheritance O Lord  and we can say this with both security and pride. We take this seed of hope from the first reading from the Book of Daniel. In the middle of his doom and gloom prediction we are told:

Some will live forever, the wise will shine brightly. Those hungering for justice will be satisfied.  However, the Gospel takes it a notch higher. It does not depend on our efforts. Our life, our walking in the path of the Lord, our being wise enough to choose what is right will prepare us for the gift of God. But in themselves these good actions are limited like we are limited Jesus affirms this when he says, times and seasons may change, but the Word of God is firm and we can rely totally on God’s word. Once given, the Word of God stands forever.

It fortifies my soul to know
That though I perish, truth is so;
That howsoever I stray and range
What’er I do, Thou does not change.
I steadier step when I recall
That if I slip, Thou dost not fall.
Arthur Clough.

Two stories to go with this meditation:

1. A father took his three year old son to the fair. He put his son on one of the rides even though it was the scariest, because the son insisted on trying it. As the ride spun around, the boy’s face was wrinkled with fright. He was ready to scream. However, he caught the eye of his father who was smiling and waving at him. When he saw that his father was not terrified and laughing, the boy began to smile. What was frightening now became a thing of joy. May I go again, the boy asked when the ride stopped.

God also seems to put us on “scary rides” in this life. It definitely merits fright and even a scream of terror. But keep your eyes on the face of God who is peaceful and you will even pick up the challenge with strength.

2. In a certain village in Switzerland, there was a magnificent Cathedral. The pillars and stained glass windows were a beauty to behold. But people would come from far and wide to hear a most complicated and intricate organ. It was a masterpiece. But soon people stopped coming to visit. The pillars and stained glass windows were still there, but the organ remained silent. Something had gone wrong. Musicians and technicians came but every time someone tried to correct it, the villagers were tested with such a lack of harmony, that they asked the organists to stop. It was horrid.

One day an old man came and volunteered to repair it. The Parish Priest was most reluctant. He was already burnt with incompetents in the past. However, there was a persistence in the old man. Finally he gave in. The Old man worked for days in silence. He did not press a single key. The Parish Priest was getting nervous. But then on the third day the whole cathedral resounded with the most glorious notes as they had done in the past.

How did you do that he was asked, when the world’s top musicians had failed. Oh replied the old man, I was the man who built this organ 50 years ago. I created it, and now I have restored it.  Why don’t we leave the final cosmic end in God’s hands. God created it and God knows how to restore it.