November 18 - Thirty Third Sunday in Ordinary Time: Life is short

 
 
First Reading  Daniel 12:1-3 Daniel prophesies about the judgment of the last days.
Responsorial Psalm  Psalm 16:5,8,9-10,11 God protects us and shows us the path of life.
Second Reading  Hebrews 10:11-14,18 Jesus' offering for sin has made all to be consecrated perfect forever.
Gospel ReadingMark 13:24-32
In this, the second-to-the-last week of the Church year, Jesus has finally made it to Jerusalem. Near to His passion and death, He gives us a teaching of hope—telling us how it will be when He returns again in glory. The Gospel text is an eschatological (i.e., an End of Time) image. Jesus is being typically provocative, trying to cajole his audience into thinking large and imagining what is really important among all the complexities and clutter of normal human life. Today’s Gospel narrative is from the 13th Chapter of Mark’s Gospel account, sometimes labeled “The Little Apocalypse.” It uses what 20th Century people called technicolor and surround-sound by way of dramatizing the imaginary end of the created universe. Jesus was very serious about getting people to think somewhat more critically than they were culturally accustomed to doing. He tried to move them away from the idea of merely earning God’s approval, and toward the idea of engaging life ever-more fully, thoughtfully, justly, and wisely. The just and the wise would recognize “the Son of Man coming in the clouds” as a sign of God’s presence and justice.

November 11 - Thirty Second Sunday in Ordinary Time: To give thankfully

 
 
First Reading 1 Kings 17:10-16Through Elijah, a widow and her son are blest with enough flour and oil to supply them for a year.
 
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 146:7,8-9 9-10A prayer of praise to God who raises up the lowly
 
Second Reading Hebrews 9:24-28Christ died once to take away sin; he will return again to bring salvation.
 
Gospel ReadingMark 12:38-44 (shorter form, Mark 12:41-44)
 
In today's well-known Gospel story (Mark 12:38-44), Jesus praises the poor widow's offering, and makes it clear that the standard measurement for assessing gifts is not how much we give to the works of God or how much we put in the collection basket, but how much we have left for ourselves. Those who give out of their abundance still have abundance left. It is said that there are three kind of givers: grudge givers (“I hate to give”), duty givers (“I ought to give”) and thanks givers (“I want to give”). Do we give grudgingly or dutifully or thankfully? The best way to give is to give thankfully, i.e. with a generous and full heart. In their self-sacrifice, these widows embody the love that Jesus last week revealed as the heart of the Law and the Gospel. They mirror the Father’s love in giving His only Son, and Christ’s love in sacrificing himself on the cross. And again we are called to imitate His sacrifice of love in our own lives. We will be judged, not by how much we give—for the scribes and wealthy contribute far more than the widow. Rather, we will be judged by whether our gifts reflect our livelihood, our whole beings, all our heart and soul, mind and strength.

November 4 - Thirty First Sunday in Ordinary Time: What are your Priorities?

 
First Reading Revelation 7:2-4,9-14John describes his vision: those who have endured the trials worship the Lamb.
 
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 24:1-2,3-4,5-6Those who seek the face of the Lord shall be rewarded.
 
Second Reading 1 John 3:1-3We are God's children now.
 
Gospel ReadingMatthew 5:1-12
 
In the Judaism of Jesus' time there were two opposite tendencies. On the one hand there was a tendency to endlessly multiply the commandments and precepts of the law, creating norms and obligations for every minimal detail of life. On the other hand there was the desire to look underneath this suffocating congeries of norms to find those things that really count for God, the spirit of all the commandments. The scribe's question and Jesus' response are situated in this approach to the essentials of the law, in this desire not to get lost in the thousand other secondary precepts. It is precisely this lesson about method that above all we must learn from today's gospel. There are things in life that are important but not urgent (in the sense that nothing will happen if we let them slide); and vice versa, there are things that are urgent but not important. The danger is that we will systematically sacrifice the important things to pursue those that are urgent but often secondary. What are the priorities, in your life? To health, family, friends and character -- we need to add two others, which are the biggest of all, the two greatest commandments: love God and your neighbour.