Homily Thirty-third Sunday Year C
Reading 1: There is a constant theme in
the Old Testament and in the New Testament: identifying and separating the
proud and the evil doers from those who have a reverential awe of the Lord. In
Psalm 1 it is identified as two paths of life: those who follow the way of the
Lord and those who follow the way of evil. In the parables of Jesus it is the
wheat and the weeds, the net that brings in the good and bad fish, the
separation of the sheep from the goats.
What happens to the proud, the evildoers,
the goats and the weeds? They are destroyed by the blazing fire of justice.
What happens to those who have reverential awe of God, the wheat and the sheep?
They will rise to new and everlasting life.
The implication is that while there is
time before the Day of the Lord, when the Son of justice appears, to hear the
word of God and to repent and turn back to the Lord. At the same time, it is
important that those who believe in the Lord remain faithful till the end.
Gospel: Here is an example of the gift of
prophesy exercised by Jesus. It is one of the gifts Jesus promised the Spirit
will give us, when we are filled with the Spirit, as Jesus was. Here Jesus is
prophesying about the future destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. This took
place less than 40 years later in 70 AD by the hands of the Romans.
While the focus of the people is to know
the exact day and the details, Jesus says that is not to be our focus. Yes,
there will be those who will try to say that this or that is the sign of the
end. They will say they were given a message about the end. Jesus’ response is
that we are not to become disturbed and distracted. Signs will take place that
people will point to. Again, we are not to be distracted.
What are we to focus on? Not on the end
but on being faithful witnesses to Jesus in the present moment by the way we
live. There will be times of persecution for our faith; there may be times we
may be challenged or questioned by others concerning our commitment to Jesus.
We are to be readied to give witness to Jesus. Even if we will feel inadequate,
Jesus said not to worry. He will give us the words to say, the wisdom we will need.
What is this wisdom? The Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit.
When we were baptized, we were told that
we now shared in the life of Jesus as priest, prophet and king. That prophetic
call is to be a living, conscious witness of what Jesus has done and who he is.
When we were confirmed, we were anointed once more with the power and gifts of
the Holy Spirit, so that we can be witnesses to others of Jesus and his mighty
deeds.
What are we to do when wars, rumors of
wars, earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, famine, pestilence and other phenomena
happen? Not to become fearful or distracted but to turn to the Lord and to
point others to the Lord, who is calling us back to the truth and way of life
that would lead to eternal glory, rather than eternal destruction.
Reading 2: No community is perfect. Each
has its problems. In Thessalonica the problem was that someone had erroneously told
them that the second coming of Jesus was imminent. As a result some decided
that it wasn’t necessary to work. But they had to eat, so they expected other
members of the community would provide for them.
Paul seeks to correct two things. We don’t
know then Jesus is coming, so we need to live our lives in an ordinary way. The
second thing is that we need to continue to work to provide for our daily
sustenance and not depend upon others to do so for us, when we are capable.
In essence, Paul is saying don’t get
distracted from focusing on that which is necessary because of the words of
others. Don’t become a burden to others in the community because of personal
convictions. Live as if today is the last day but live your normal life.
