Reflections for 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time C

 I am the Light of the world.

The person who follows me will not walk in the dark

but have the light of life.

33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time C

Malachi 3:19, 20, Psalm 97:5-9. Rv. 9, 2 Thess. 3:7-12,

For you the sun of righteousness will shine out with healing in its rays

The Lord comes to rule the peoples with fairness

Do not let anyone have any food if they refuse to work.

Your endurance will win you your lives.

Luke 21: 5-19

Some of the disciples were talking about the Temple, how beautiful it looked with its fine stones and the gifts offered to God. Jesus said, 6 "All this you see - the time will come when not a single stone here will be left in its place; every one will be thrown down." 7 "Teacher," they asked, "when will this be? And what will happen in order to show that the time has come for it to take place?" 8 Jesus said, "Watch out; don't be fooled. Many men, claiming to speak for me, will come and say, "I am he!' and, "The time has come!' But don't follow them. 9 Don't be afraid when you hear of wars and revolutions; such things must happen first, but they do not mean that the end is near." 10 He went on to say, "Countries will fight each other; kingdoms will attack one another. 11 There will be terrible earthquakes, famines, and plagues everywhere; there will be strange and terrifying things coming from the sky. 12 Before all these things take place, however, you will be arrested and persecuted; you will be handed over to be tried in synagogues and be put in prison; you will be brought before kings and rulers for my sake. 13 This will be your chance to tell the Good News. 14 Make up your minds ahead of time not to worry about how you will defend yourselves, 15 because I will give you such words and wisdom that none of your enemies will be able to refute or contradict what you say. 16 You will be handed over by your parents, your brothers, your relatives, and your friends; and some of you will be put to death. 17 Everyone will hate you because of me. 18 But not a single hair from your heads will be lost. 19 Stand firm, and you will save yourselves.

Grasp the Opportunity

Shakespeare wrote: “There is a tide in the affairs of men

Which, taken at the flood leads on to fortune;

Omitted, all the voyage of their life

Is bound in shallows and in miseries”.

In other words there are critical times in our life and in the life of a nation. If we do not grasp the opportunity then we will forever suffer the consequences.

            The disciples are admiring the beauty of the Temple. Jesus warns them that all will be destroyed. “Not one stone will be left on another”. The reason: “because you did not recognize the visitation of your God”. God came in the guise of a man and they did not recognize him. On the contrary they persecuted and killed him. They missed their opportunity.

            Since Jesus is God come to earth, then he is the key to understanding history. It is how we accept him and his values that will determine our future. He identified himself with the outcast and the oppressed. He is a king who rules by love. He is one with us. We need to be one with him and embrace his values. He is a God who feels the pain of his children. He is a God of compassion and mercy who puts down the mighty from their seats and lifts up the lowly. He fills the hungry with good things and sends the rich away empty. He is faithful to the Covenant. We are to be compassionate as our heavenly Father is compassionate.

            Religion is not a matter of rituals and institutions. Our reaction to Jesus is the key to our ‘fortune’ or our ‘shallows and miseries’. This last discourse of Jesus is a warning to us. Jesus in Luke interprets the destruction of Jerusalem as a result of the failure to accept him. We reject Jesus at our peril in this life and in eternity.

            We are now in what the Scriptures call the ‘end times’. Jesus the Messiah and God has come. He has saved the world in principle. He has established his community in which he lives and acts to offer his salvation to the whole world and to every age, till he comes again. Jesus warns us in today’s Gospel that we can expect false prophets to arise and we must be on our guard not to follow them. No one knows the day or the hour of his coming. He warns us too that wars and catastrophes will occur and that as he was persecuted so will his community be persecuted. But we are not to be afraid. He will give us his Spirit. It will be his Spirit who gives us courage and the wisdom ‘which none of your opponents will be able to resist’.

            We have walked with Jesus this year. Are you closer to him now than before? Do you experience the comfort and courage of the Spirit?

Father, may I experience the presence of Jesus and his Spirit within me.