FrNikola

33rd Week in Ordinary Time, Thursday

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In the tears Our Lord sheds in today’s Gospels we can find two regrets: that despite his perfect fidelity to the plan of his Heavenly Father not as many would benefit from his redemption as could have, and over how much more he expected from his beloved Jerusalem, also known as the city of David with all the Messianic importance that implied. The end of his earthly mission was coming soon, and when the end is in sight, regrets often bring tears to our eyes.

We can only imagine how Jerusalem and Israel would have been if they’d welcomed him in faith to be their Messiah and eternal king, but to do so they had to believe in a reign and a Kingdom that was far greater than the territory of Palestine and the earthly Jerusalem. Jesus was to usher in a new earth, a justice and freedom that would last forever. We, in faith and hope, know that this has begun and will be completed in the future. They put their faith in an earthly city and earthly aspirations, and Our Lord knew those would turn to rubble within a few decades after his Ascension: Jerusalem and the Temple were razed to the ground in 70 A.D. by the Romans suppressing the Zealot uprising.

Our Lord shed those tears for all of us, not just those of his earthly ministry. We can still dry those tears. Let’s ask the Holy Spirit to help us listen to what Our Lord wants to share with us, and for the strength to imitate him in fidelity to the Heavenly Father’s plan for our lives and for the world.

Readings: 1 Maccabees 2:15–29; Psalm 50:1b–2, 5–6, 14–15; Luke 19:41–44.

33rd Week in Ordinary Time, Wednesday

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In today’s Gospel Our Lord responds to the expectation of an immediate manifestation of the Kingdom of God with a parable that describes symbolically how the manifestation of the Kingdom of God will take place: the Last Judgment. Our Lord is that nobleman who goes off to become king: he ascends into Heaven to be at his Father’s right hand, and, when he returns, he’ll return in glory and the Kingdom will be fully and visibly established, with rewards and sentences handed out. This parable speaks to what is expected of us in the meanwhile.

There are three categories of response. First, those who deny of any sovereignty on the part of the King, even to the point of working actively against him: a rejection of Christ and, therefore, of God, that leads to the everlasting “death sentence”of being separated forever from the only thing that matters in life: love for God and for others. Second, those who have been entrusted with something by the King in order to bear some profit for him that he’ll acknowledge and reward upon his return. Believers who do something with the talents Our Lord has given them not only benefit the Kingdom, but receive acknowledgment and trust in the Kingdom to come. Finally, those who acknowledge receiving something from the King, but do nothing to make it bear profit for him. Believers who do zero with the talents Our Lord have given them lose those talents and everything else, because they didn’t even make a minimal effort to invest them, and all Our Lord expects is some effort.

We don’t have to wait until Our King’s return to see how things turn out for us. Each one of us must see whether we’ve rejected him until now in our life, have squandered what he has entrusted to us, or have tried to make what he’s entrusted to us bear some fruit. As the parable teaches, even a minimal effort with what we’ve been entrusted is enough to bear fruit. Let’s not be afraid to improve the “verdict” in our own case.

Readings: 2 Maccabees 7:1, 20–31; Psalm 17:1b–d, 5–6, 8b, 15; Luke 19:11–28.

33rd Week in Ordinary Time, Tuesday

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In yesterday‘s Gospel we saw how important the crowd was in helping the blind man know that Jesus was near and meet him. Today the crowd, whether wittingly or unwittingly, is not enabling Zacchaeus to see Our Lord, and Zacchaeus has to resort to drastic measures. There are those in the crowd who already dislike him for being a tax collector, considered a sell out to the Romans and a corrupt man who profits by exploiting his own people. Zacchaeus doesn’t care about appearing ridiculous; he just wants to see Jesus. Our Lord rewards him by standing up for him before the entire crowd.

This doesn’t mean Zacchaeus was not a sinner. The crowd accuses him of it, and Our Lord himself says salvation has come to someone who was lost. Zacchaeus doesn’t even deny it, which is why he declares publicly that he is ready to make amends and to help the poor. If Zacchaeus had not managed to see Jesus, who knows what would have happened. When we size people up and find them lacking, or judge them, we mustn’t make that a pretext to write them off and not help them meet Our Lord. We shouldn’t close ranks and prevent them from drawing closer to the person for whom we’re together in the first place: Our Lord.

We’re not an exclusive club that is justified in excluding; rather, we are bearers of God’s Word who should lead anyone showing an interest to the Word himself. Let’s not be shy about helping people draw closer to Jesus through us, no matter what they’ve done in the past.

Readings: 2 Maccabees 6:18–31; Psalm 3:2–7; Luke 19:1–10.

33rd Week in Ordinary Time, Monday

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In today’s Gospel the people in the crowd following Jesus don’t appreciate how important their role is in helping others to encounter him. Just the mention of him name provokes such a strong reaction in the blind man today that they tried to silence him as crazy, maybe as someone not even worth the Rabbi’s time. If there had not been a commotion to begin with, and if no one had mentioned Our Lord’s name that man would have remained blind and begging.

We’re that crowd. There are lots of blind and needy people out there, not just the poor and sick, but people who are spiritually blind and needy. We have an opportunity to bring them to the One who’ll help them to see and provide for their true needs, but if we don’t make a commotion and let people know about Jesus, they may never find out. Perhaps we’ve met someone in our lives  for whom a passing comment on our part has led to a deeper faith life than we’d expected; we shouldn’t underestimate the power of his name.

The First Reading reminds us today that domesticating our faith is not far from silencing it. Let’s not be afraid to make a commotion in Jesus’ name so that all those blind and needy people out there have a chance to meet him and be transformed.

Readings: 1 Maccabees 1:10–15, 41–43, 54–57, 62–63; Psalm 119:53, 61, 134, 150, 155, 158; Luke 18:35–43. See also 8th Week in Ordinary Time, Thursday, Year I.

33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

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Today is the next to last Sunday in Ordinary Time. We’ll celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King next Sunday, and today’s readings remind us how close that is. The liturgical year symbolizes the entire work of redemption throughout history, and that work is about to be concluded so that the year can start anew with the First Sunday of Advent. Next Sunday we celebrate the moment of the work of redemption where Christ becomes all in all, as St. Paul would say. It’ll be the day in which the Christian prayer “Thy Kingdom Come!” is completely answered: the Second Coming of Christ.

Today’s First Reading reminds us what will happen on that day: the end of the world as we know it. When we hear those words each of us must examine ourselves so see what they mean to us. They probably fill us with fear, but they should fill us with hope too. Daniel’s prophecy speaks of a great distress in the world, but also the help of St. Michael the Archangel, the guardian of the Church, just as each of us has a guardian angel, watching over us and helping us in all of life’s trials. Often it seems the end of the world is something sad and distressing, because the world as we know it is about to end. In those moments we must remember the Lord’s promises in the Beatitudes: we’ll have the Kingdom of Heaven, justice, consolation, and mercy. If we strive to live the Beatitudes they fill us with hope, because we know Our Lord always keeps his promises. As today’s Second Reading reminds us, Christ himself, by becoming a sacrifice, has performed a perfect sacrifice that bring us forgiveness and will continue to bring us forgiveness. Our Lord has already won the war. Our trials in life are the last battles of a conquest the Lord has already achieved, winning over soul after soul until the end of time until “his enemies are made his footstool”: until the forces of evil are definitively defeated.

Today’s Gospel reminds us we won’t know when Christ will return in glory, but also to be vigilant. In contemplating the end of the world let’s be vigilant, but also full of hope, even though a little healthy concern keeps us on our toes during these last battles of the war Jesus has already won.

Readings: Daniel 12:1–3; Psalm 16:5, 8–11; Hebrews 10:11–14, 18; Mark 13:24–32.