Martin Jumbam
Mother Church invites us to celebrate Sunday, November 15, 2015 as the thirty third Sunday in ordinary time, year B. It is the last but one Sunday of the Church’s liturgical year B. In the Entrance Antiphon we pray: “The Lord says: my plans for you are peace and not disaster. When you call to me, I will listen to you, and I will bring you back to the place from which I exiled you. Amen.” As we approach the end of the Church’s year, the theme selected for our meditation is very much the resurrection of the body, the end of all our Christian efforts and the end of the world. Our readings remind us of an important truth of our Christian faith: the return of Christ in glory to gather his elect and make them share in his everlasting glory. In the first reading, from the prophecy of Daniel, we see one of the Old Testament beliefs in the resurrection from the dead. The Jewish people are suffering great persecution from the Persian kings and Daniel serves as consolation for his people at this time of hardship. In the second reading, from the Letter to the Hebrews, the sacred writer tells us that only one sacrifice, that of Christ, gives true hope and justification for all other sacrifices. Jesus sacrificed himself for the forgiveness of sin; there can be henceforth no other sin-offering.
Today’s Gospel assures us that on Judgment Day, perfect justice will be done: the virtuous will rise to be with Jesus in eternal happiness; the wicked will rise to bear the consequence of their rejection of God’s call to conversion. Such a message gives hope to all those who may not be getting their due in this life. It is also an appeal to those who are living in sin to go back to the Lord as soon as possible, for no one knows when the end will come. Let the perseverance of the just and the conversion of sinners be among the main intentions for which we offer this Eucharist. In the course of this Eucharist, let us pray for the gift of conversion so that when our time comes to go to the Master he may find us worthy to take our rightful place around his banquet table.
First Reading: Daniel 12: 1-3.
At that time Michael will stand up, the great prince who mounts guard over your people. There is going to be a time of great distress, unparalleled since nations first came into existence. When that time comes, your own people will be spared, all those whose names are found written in the Book. Of those who lie sleeping in the dust of the earth many will awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting disgrace. The learned will shine as brightly as the vault of heaven, and those who have instructed many in virtue, as bright as stars for all eternity.
V/ The word of the Lord.
R/ Thanks be to God.
Comment
In the Christian Bible, the book of Daniel is the fourth of the Major Prophets after Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. Daniel is the prophet of the exile period. Set in Babylon during the exile, the book of Daniel reflects the situation of the Jews in the eastern diaspora during the fifth to third centuries BC. The hero, Daniel, is presented as living in Babylonia during the reign of the last kings of the Neo-Babylonian Empire and their first successors, the early kings of the Medes and the Persians around the 6th century BC. It is generally agreed that it was written around the year 165 BC shortly before the death of the tyrant king Antiochus IV Epiphanes, a ruthless persecutor of the Jews.
We learn from history that in the 8th century BC Israel became a province of the Assyrian Empire. In the 7th century, the Medes with the assistance of Babylonia took control and annexed the former kingdom of Judah. The conquest led to a wholesale slaughter of the Jews and many of those who survived were deported to Babylon. There many of them were forced to denounce their own religion and embrace that of their conqueror.
Some, however, resisted and the ensuing conflict forms the basis of the Book of Daniel. In it, the writer exhorts the Jews to stay true to their religion and to worship their God and none other, even if there are obstacles on the way – even if it means death.
In the passage of our meditation, the prophecy talks of the deliverance of the people of God through the mediation of Michael, the angel protector of Israel. Antiochus, the tyrant and merciless persecutor of the Jewish people, is dead and this marks the end of the persecution. Michael, the patron of the Jews, will ensure that those whose names are written in the book will be saved. The names written in the book symbolize those who are truly the people of God because they have stayed faithful to Him.
These verses give one of the few OT testimonies to belief in the resurrection from the dead. Those who are dead will either rise to share in the kingdom of God or to suffer the punishment they deserve. The Church, too, in light of the teachings of Jesus Christ, believes that all the dead will rise, those who have done good will rise to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment (Jn 5:29).
What do we take home from this reading? We learn from Daniel that God has immense powers which can and will rescue you and me from our persecutors. Daniel also shows us that our God is the master of history, who uses the rise and fall of nations as preparatory steps in the establishment of his universal reign over all peoples. Let us pray to God to protect us and rescue us from the snares of the Evil One. Amen.
Second Reading: Hebrews 10: 11-14. 18.
All the priests stand at their duties every day, offering over and over again the same sacrifices which are quite incapable of taking sins away. Christ, on the other hand, has offered one single sacrifice for sins, and then taken his place for ever, at the right hand of God, where he is now waiting until his enemies are made into a footstool for him. By virtue of that one single offering, he has achieved the eternal perfection of all whom he is sanctifying. When all sins have been forgiven, there can be no more sin offerings.
V/ The word of the Lord.
R/ Thanks be to God.
Comment
The sacred writer of Hebrews comes back to what he said in last Sunday’s reading, namely, that Christ became for all who obey him the source of salvation and that the OT has been fulfilled with a glorious, final salvation, brought through the sacrifice of Christ.
Christ is our priest before God, eternal yet waiting for the final call. It is an eternal rule still awaited but with the issue never in doubt. The end will come, as we hear in the Gospel message of this day, when the application of Christ’s work is complete. We have already begun our access to the Father, and thus share in Christ’s priestly consecration and presence with God.
The author expounds on this concept by comparing the posture of the old priesthood with that of Christ’s. The priests of old had to stand before Yahweh, offering victims repeatedly. Standing was the correct posture for servants and employees. The priests of old went through the same motions repeatedly as they offered the same sacrifices. On the contrary, Christ ascended into heaven after his resurrection and is seated at the right hand of God the Father. The seating posture reflects the idea of repose and rest and being seated would be equivalent to receiving royal investiture from where Christ exercises supreme authority.
What has happened is that by virtue of a single sacrifice, Christ has taken possession of heaven for ever and has merited royal dignity; and all that remains to happen, and it will happen, is for all his enemies to submit to him (1 Cor 15:25-28).
Christ’s sacrifice is fruitful for all who take part in it, “those who have been sanctified”, and are now perfected by receiving forgiveness of sins that leads them into union with God. Let us therefore pray to God to cleanse us of our sins so we will find ourselves worthy of standing in Christ’s presence in heaven when our time on earth runs out. We make our prayer through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Gospel: Mark 13:24-32.
Jesus said to his disciples: “In those days, after the time of distress, the sun will be darkened, the moon will lose its brightness, the stars will come falling from heaven 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; then too he will send the angels to gather his chosen from the four winds, from the ends of the world to the ends of heaven. Take the fig tree as a parable: as soon as its twigs grow supple and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. So with you when you see these things happening: know that he is near, at the very gates. I tell you solemnly, before this generation has passed away all these things will have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. But as for that day or hour, nobody knows it, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son; no one but the Father.”
V/ The Gospel of the Lord.
R/ Praise be to God.
Comment
In the pages of the Bible there are many stories of great figures who, as they see death approaching, gather their children or followers to give a final testament. Before Jacob died, he called his twelve sons to give an appropriate blessing to each of them. On his death bed, Moses encouraged his people to be strong and stand firm, then appointed his successor, Joshua, to lead the twelve tribes of Israel across the Jordan to take possession of the Promised Land. Before King David ended his days, he addressed the officials of Israel and then passed authority to his son Solomon. In the same way Jesus, before he died, gathered his disciples and delivered his final teaching on the future age, instructing them how to live in the midst of political and cosmic upheavals. Part of Jesus’ testament is what we hear in today’s Gospel.
We should remember that Saint Mark wrote at a time of widespread persecution of the Christian community of Rome. No doubt Jesus’ followers are wondering if the end of the world is near, uncertain in their suffering how things are going to turn out. Saint Mark is giving us Jesus’ vision of the future, which does not look very appealing. Christ delivers the bad news first. He imagines a time of trouble, terror and persecution. People will be betrayed and handed over to the authorities. There will be wars and earthquakes and famines. There will be cosmic upheavals: “the sun will be darkened, the moon will lose its brightness, the stars will come falling from heaven.”
After this catalogue of disasters, comes the good news. Jesus is looking beyond the time of distress to the final time when the Son of Man will gather the scattered people of God to himself. Jesus sees beyond suffering and persecution to a future of peace with God. This vision of peace is important for Saint Mark’s community. If their hope is not to be exhausted by the forces of circumstances, they need help to imagine a life without pain and suffering.
Jesus warns us that we must remain vigilant for the Day of Judgment can be sudden. “The light comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man” (Mt 24:27). This should give everyone an impetus to live prepared as if everyday is the last day for us. Saint Paul urges us to build our faith on Christ alone. “Let each man take care how he builds upon it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 3:10).
What lesson are we taking home from the Gospel reading of this day? Jesus is telling us that our life and very existence are at risk. If we are to be faithful to him, we must make it clear and stay awake, listen to his voice, watch and pray. As Saint John repeats over and over again in his Gospel and in his Epistles, where we will stand when Christ comes is decided by where we stand, the way we live, now, in this present life.
So let us pray that the Holy Spirit may strengthen our faith, so that we may remain awake in anticipation of the coming of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; he who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit, One God forever and ever. Amen.
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