Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time
The Resurrection
Click here for today's readings on the USCCB website.
Reading I: Daniel 12:1-3
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 16:5, 8, 9-10, 11
Reading II: Hebrews 10:11-14, 18
Alleluia: Luke 21:36
Gospel: Mark 13:24-32
The Resurrection (Daniel 12:1-3) and The Coming of the Son of Man and The Lesson of the Fig Tree. (Mark 13:24-32)
For today, I have combined the first reading from Daniel and the Gospel reading from Mark into one reflection as they are so closely tied together.
In the reading from Daniel, he talks about those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake (the dead) and some will go to everlasting life (heaven) and others will go to the reproach and everlasting disgrace (hell). In the Gospel reading, Jesus says.
26 And then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in the clouds’ with great power and glory,
27 and then he will send out the angels and gather [his] elect from the four winds, from the end of the earth to the end of the sky.Mark 13:26-27
Jesus will gather his faithful people who are still on earth at the time of his second coming. As we reminded at the vigil Mass yesterday, we are coming to the close of Ordinary Time and will start Advent two Sundays from now and the reading focus on this. Jesus tells us that there will be signs of his second coming and we need to be watchful. But there are many who obsess about this and interpret signs incorrectly. In my lifetime, I think the world was supposed to have ended at least three times, but yet we are here.
We need to prepare for Jesus’ coming, that is true, because we do not know the day nor the hour. But, we also do not know the day nor the hour that we are going to die. We may die peacefully in our beds or we may die in a car crash, but we will die some day, that is guaranteed. It is the state of our soul at the time of our death that we need to be concerned about.
If we go through life thinking that our salvation is somehow guaranteed, we need to go ahead and re-read this passage again. When we are baptized, we have the stain of original sin removed and that opens up the possibility for us to go to heaven. But if we continuously live a life in mortal sin and we have no repentance, it doesn’t matter if we are baptized or not, our chances of going to heaven when we die are fairly slim.
Conversely, there are those that live in despair. They may or may not go to Confession, but they never truly believe in God’s mercy. This can be as bad as thinking that heaven is guaranteed.
We need to approach the sacrament of Confession with a contrite heart. We need to acknowledge that we have a sinful nature, but have a sincere desire to conform our hearts to Jesus and turn away from our vices and sins. If we do this, we can place our hope in Jesus and trust in his mercy.
What are you going to do to be with Jesus in heaven? Are you willing to do what it takes? Can you put Jesus before everything else?
Act of Hope
O My God, relying on Thy infinite goodness and promises, I hope to obtain pardon of my sins, the help of Thy grace and life everlasting, through the merits of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Redeemer.