November 15^th 2015.  Thirty Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

GOSPEL: Mark 13:24-32

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading ...

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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.’

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

Kieran’s summary . . . . The Gospel contains a prophecy from Jesus about the end times when the celestial objects will be covered and the earth will be thrown into desolation. This prophecy is also referring to the concrete situation of you and me in our daily lives. The Christian life involves continually experiencing the “end of the world” in that we are called on a daily basis to renounce our worldliness, the earthly possessions and the sinful situations that we cling to. Such renunciation involves personal suffering and tribulation, but it is a positive thing because it involves journeying towards the beautiful life that Jesus is calling us to. Sometimes there is pain and tragedy in our lives. This too is a call to leave behind old things and old attitudes and follow Jesus. In fact, the Christian life is the art of moving away from the old earthly things and embracing the heavenly kingdom. There is pain involved, sure, but it is also a beautiful and uplifting journey! Baptism is the beginning of the journey of moving from the earthly and the heavenly. This simply must continue all through life – otherwise we are not growing towards God! So these signs, these tribulations and sufferings, are signs that we are being called to God, to communion with the Son of Man who comes on a cloud in glory. If there are no tribulations in our lives, maybe that is a sign that we are not journeying towards this great encounter with the Son of Man.

  

Jesus’ prophecy speaks of an end, but he is not only referring to the end of the world: he is speaking about the tribulation and suffering that comes whenever we are confronted with a situation in which we are challenged to let go of the worldly things that we cling to

The first reading is from the book of Daniel. The passage recounts a prophecy delivered at a time of immense suffering. In this moment of extreme anguish and oppression, Daniel sees something of great grandeur approaching. This assists us in understanding the core message of this Sunday’s Gospel. Jesus speaks of a time of extreme desolation when the sun and moon will both be obscured and the stars will fall from the sky. Whatever can he mean? In the creation account, God places the sun, moon and stars in the heavens in order to regulate the seasons and the passage of time. The celestial objects functioned as a great timepiece in the ancient world. When these celestial objects are no more, it signifies that time itself is coming to an end. Jesus, thus, is speaking of a situation when the fundamental points of reference have lost their bearings. At the moment of his crucifixion, the sky is obscured by an eclipse of the sun. Jesus’ crucifixion represents the end of a particular epoch of time. His cross represents the end of something, and this is reproduced continually throughout history in the lives of Christians around the world. Rather than referring to the end of the world, this passage is referring more concretely to something that is a feature of the life of the spirit in general. Before a person can enter into the new life of Christ, he must first pass through a stage where his points of reference fall apart. This is what conversion is: a turning upside down of one’s points of reference. What once seemed valid and important comes to feel secondary and of little importance. What once seemed essential is now seen as trivial; all things come to be re-evaluated in a radical sense.

There are many things in our lives that we need to abandon and renounce. The tribulation that this brings is the sign of a new beginning. The Christian life is the art of abandonment of the old and continually embracing the new

Jesus speaks of the fig tree which announces the coming summer when its shoots become tender. What are the signs that we must be able to read in order to recognize the onset of a new beginning in our lives? Daniel prophesies a new beginning in the midst of tribulation and chaos. Jesus is also telling us that when our lives seem to be falling apart, we shouldn’t think that this is the end; rather it is the beginning. We must cultivate the habit of considering everything as a point of departure. This is the art of living in an Easter frame of mind. We move towards fulfilment through liberation, abandonment, and renouncement. We might appear to be losing things, but we are not losing at all. The word “departure” also conveys the sense of detachment or a parting of the ways from certain things. The Christian way of life is the art of beginning anew when everything appears to be at an end. The things of life become re-evaluated in this fresh moment of beginning anew. It is abundantly clear that there are things in our lives that we need to renounce! If we remain attached to things, then how can God manage to introduce real change in our lives? How can we enter into a new world of novelty and surprise if we are busy defending the possessions that we already have? Loss can be simply loss, or it can also be liberation, depending on our frame of mind. We have the capacity to transform all of these situations in life into new beginnings. In a sense, all new departures involve grief and destruction regarding the previous state of things. The Holy Spirit, in his wisdom, makes all things new and is capable of creating life where there seemed to be only death. Remember, salvation is found along the way of the cross. Very often, God operates by changing everything, by taking away, by terminating that which needed to be replaced.

Sometimes we are “at the ends of the earth”; in other words we are extremely worldly and sinful. Often, this is when God calls us to renounce what is earthly, and go through the tribulation, embracing the new – the Son of Man who comes in glory

In baptism, we are asked to take on this mentality by which we pass from an earthly existence to the things of heaven, the things of the Father. When things appear to be at an end, we should realize that they are only beginning. The more distressing and turbulent the events, then the more we see, as it were, the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven. It is in this situation that the elect are gathered from the ends of the heaven to the ends of the earth. The “ends of the earth” refers to someone who has arrived at the extreme, as far as earthly things are concerned. It is often as a result of serious sin that we are brought back to the Lord. But it is also true that those who have seemed to arrive at the extremity of heavenly things (in other words, those who have had the most beautiful spiritual experiences) still need to be led by God to something newer and even better. The Lord always has something more to give us and we should never become attached even to wonderful spiritual things. What is important is not the fact that things are finishing; what is important is that we are journeying onward to the place that God is leading us. This Sunday we are almost at the end of the Church’s liturgical year. It is an appropriate time to prepare for new beginnings, to prepare ourselves for Advent, for novelty, for beauty. When everything seems to be ending - above all in death - this is when things are truly beginning.