Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time / Msgr. Owen F. Campion
The Sunday Readings
The Book of Malachi supplies Mass this weekend with its first reading.
Malachi was not the name of the author of this book. Rather, it refers to a title, “Messenger of God,” that appears at the start of the book. It is thought that the book was written about 450 years before Christ.
As in the cases of all the prophets, the purpose of Malachi is to summon the people to greater religious devotion. This book was written, it is believed, in the aftermath of religious reforms. It probably was an effort to reinforce these reforms.
Many prophets warned people that if they did not return to a more exacting observance of religion, they would reap the whirlwind. Such is the case in this reading. One terrible day, God will come with swift and final justice. The wicked and the lukewarm will not escape.
For its second reading, the Church this weekend offers us a passage from St. Paul’s Second Epistle to the Thessalonians.
In this reading, St. Paul again declares how seriously he took his vocation to be an Apostle. He says that he considered nothing else. Further, he says that he has worked day and night, in order to be an example. He was focused on his vocation and on it alone.
St. Luke’s Gospel is the source of the last reading for this weekend.
Generally speaking, in proclaiming the four Gospels at Mass, the Church teaches that we should be aware of three stages of interest. The first stage is the actual life of Jesus. The events in the Lord’s life, told in the Gospels, are important. Circumstances surrounding these events are important.
The second stage is the experience of the Christian faithful when the Gospel was written and for which the Gospel was written.
The third stage is the context that the composition of the Gospel itself creates.
Quite clear throughout Luke, and surely in this reading, is the fact that Christ and then the Church faced serious hostilities in the first-century Roman imperial world. In this weekend’s reading, Jesus warned his disciples that they would be hated simply because they were his followers. He foresaw catastrophes that occurred in time.
Most shocking of all predictions was the Lord’s announcement that one day the temple would fall. It was shocking because the temple was regarded as God’s dwelling on Earth, indeed a symbol of God himself. To say that the temple would fall could be construed to mean that God, the Almighty, the eternal, would fall.
Jesus also said that God would rebuild the temple, and the new temple, the new dwelling of God, would be himself. God will never die.
Reflection
The Gospel reading from St. Luke’s Gospel is typical of other sections of the same Gospel. It is somber and chilling. Terrible things will happen. When the Gospel was written, decades after the time of Jesus, Christians were seeing their own friends and enemies turn against them. It was a frightening sight. Christians were left alone in the face of bloodthirsty, powerful enemies.
These readings together remind us that we cannot choose our circumstances in every situation. We are at the mercy of the often uncontrollable aspects of the times and places in which we live. Circumstances in our lives can be perplexing. Others’ decisions can disturb us.
Our task as Christians, indeed our only option, is to be true to the Gospel. As Paul indicates, nothing else truly matters. Being with God for eternity is the only reason to live.
Pursuing the ideal of being with God requires deep and uncompromising commitment. We cannot hesitate. We cannot turn away. God will assist us with his ever-present grace. He will reward us with the everlasting gift of life. †