Fr. Rick’s Homily: 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, 11/17/24

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Dn 12:1-3; Ps 16:5, 8-11; Heb 10:11-14, 18; Mk 13:24-32

“And then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in the clouds’ with great power and glory, 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.”  Mk. 13:26-27

As we grow closer to the end of Ordinary Time (two more weeks) we continue our consideration of the end times.  Mark’s Gospel today envisions the end time of judgement when the angels of the Lord will be sent out to gather His elect.  There is a Heaven and there is a Hell.  They are both eternal.

Jesus, whether He understands the specifics or not, also anticipates the Roman destruction of Jerusalem and the temple just a couple decades away in 70 AD.  (Amen, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place.  Mk. 13:30).  In both instances Jesus warns that the people should be able to read the signs of their times and anticipate the end of the old and the coming of the new.  Although the time of judgement is upon them (us), they (we) should not worry about the exact time.  “But of that day or hour, no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”  Mk. 13:32.

We should also heed the same advice.  Don’t waste time dwelling on the end of the world, but rather always be prepared for the day of judgement.  Our lives could end at any time… completely unexpected. The world as we have known it can also change without much notice.   Consider for instance these changes:

– The constant advances in technology have changed many careers and have virtually eliminated some jobs.  Something we were always depending on no longer exists.

  • The constant warfare going on in the world can begin to shatter our American illusions of always living in peace and prosperity.
  • For millennia we presumed that marriage was between a man and a woman.  The changes in our cultural perceptions about the meaning of human sexuality over the past 20 to 50 years has caught most people off guard and our confused secular culture is still trying to figure out things that we once thought were basic.
  • With a high divorce rate over the past few decades, many spouses have had to acknowledge that they hardly even knew the person they were married to.  Their marriage was a type of illusion.  Life as they knew it was over.
  • Any significant changes in our health or the health of a loved one can change our whole perception of reality sometimes.
  • In our American culture we are encouraged to all have our own dream that we can pursue, and it will eventually make us feel happy and fulfilled.  Most people have had a dream or two shattered which had them wondering what their life was about.  Life as they had known it was over.
  • Any of these situations can leave us feeling completely lost and alone at such times.  We struggle to recall what the real constants are in our lives.  What ultimately provides the true foundation of our lives?

Somewhat similar to the Jews in first century Palestine, the world as they knew it was about to end when the Romans sacked Jerusalem and destroyed the temple.  The world did not end.  The Jews have somewhat recovered their homeland and continued to fight … perpetually … with their neighbors.  Just as when the Babylonians destroyed the temple and Jerusalem in 587 BC the world did not end.  They continued to live and to wage war…perpetually.  Kind of like the rest of our species.

But for today, let’s take a different tack on the end times.  Last month when the priests of the Salt Lake Diocese gathered for their annual convocation they heard a number of presentations on the subject of vocations.  Fr. Michael Niemczak, a formation director at Mt. Angel Seminary in Oregon, where most of our seminarians attend, suggested that a central part of everyone’s vocation is to get to heaven.  He suggested that in order to really marshal the energy needed for such a goal we would actually need to imagine what Heaven actually looks like to give us something more specific and tangible to pursue.  It’s also worth noting that Christians are actually supposed to be about making the world look more like Heaven than Hell while we are still on earth.  I’m sure our grandchildren would appreciate such an effort.

Let’s make that our homework assignment for the week.  Imagine Heaven so we can have something more specific to strive for.  While we are waiting for the ‘end times’ we should actually be about making the world look more like Heaven than Hell.

 Let’s try to capture the spirit of the psalmist from today’s Psalm 16.  “Therefore, my heart is glad and my soul rejoices, my body, too, abides in confidence; because you will not abandon my soul to the netherworld,”

Take a few moments to imagine Heaven.  Ask God for inspiration.

What steps can you take today to make the world look like the Heaven you imagine.  Think big and think small.  What’s doable today?

How has the world as you’ve known it ended this past year?  Loss of health?  Loss of loved ones or close relationships?  Loss of a career?  Loss of hope in leadership at any level?  Loss of hope for a peaceful world in your lifetime?  How has God been with you during these times?

The constant is that God is and always has been with us.  He is the foundation.  Heaven awaits.  Imagine it.