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33rd

SUNDAY

(B)

“FIRST IMPRESSIONS”
33rd SUNDAY (B)
November 17, 2024

Daniel 12: 1-3; Psalm 16; Hebrews
10: 11-14,18; Mark 13: 24-32

by Jude Siciliano, OP

 

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Dear Preachers:


During Advent we are posting reflections on our webpage drawn from the daily Mass Scriptures. They are written by friars, sisters and laity of the Dominican Family.
For these daily and enriching Advent meditations go to: https://PreacherExchange.com/ And click on the ADVENT link button on the upper left.


In difficult times God can seem distant and perhaps impotent. Going through serious trials some people ask, “Where is God? Why doesn’t God help me?” They might even say, “Can God help me?”

At these times some people need assurance and even a sign that God is not far away and preoccupied. During testing times people find solace and hope in apocalyptical literature. That’s what we have today. Our readings from Daniel and Mark contain apocalyptical language and are reminders that the Bible is more like a library of diverse books than one uniform piece of literature. The prophet Daniel is an apocalyptical book; the reading from Mark has Jesus speaking in apocalyptic images.

Today is the 2nd from the last Sunday in this liturgical year, our readings have turned apocalyptical with a focus on the end times. Such writings are usually stirred up when a people are in distress, especially from persecution. When the present is bad for God’s people they will look to the future, hoping God will someday rescue them. For them, apocalyptical texts speak to their current need for assurance.

Apocalyptical language can sound weird to the modern reader. It is symbolic language that speaks of dreams and visions. The people for whom it was written understood the texts were referring to real events, and were offering hope to those who needed it. Some modern biblical readers take the images literally. The people for whom they originally were meant did not. When I turn on the television I can quickly distinguish between the news and the weather report. The people to whom the apocalyptical texts were directed knew what they were reading.

The imagery in Daniel today will appear later in the Book of Revelation. Daniel wrote during the 2nd century BCE. The Israelites were afflicted with terrible persecution by the Syrians. They must have wondered, as we sometimes do when we are suffering: Where was God?; Why wasn’t God coming out to help them? Because the present was so bad the Book of Daniel directs the believers to the future when God’s angel Michael will come to free them from their afflictions. Things might go from bad to worse, but they were to sustain their hope because, Daniel prophesies, God will free them. Their suffering is not the end of the story, God will come with a final judgment. This reading contains the earliest statement in the Scriptures of the resurrection of the dead, “Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake.”

This must have been an extraordinary piece of good news to the people in such misery. Despite appearances the Israelites were called to have faith in God’s saving power. The question for us is: “Can we do the same?” Daniel promises the dead shall rise and live forever and those who live justly will live in eternity and “shine brightly.” Who are the “shining stars” of our faith? Who have instilled hope in us? For them we give thanks at this Eucharist.

Isn’t the gospel reading scary? Jesus is near the end of his public ministry. In the next verses Mark will reveal the priests’ and scribes’ plan to arrest and kill him (14:1 ff). Jesus’ description of the end times contains language that sends chills up the spines of his disciples. He predicts there will be wars, false prophets, natural disasters, persecutions and betrayals. (It sounds a lot like what’s happening in our modern world!) We are tempted to skip today’s passage and turn the page in search of more consolation from the Scriptures.

Jesus warns that “the sun will be darkened.” Their accustomed world, with its signs of God’s favor, the temple and the city of Jerusalem, will be torn down. How terrifying and disorienting it will be for them! Their “lights”will be extinguished and they will not be able to see the familiar and reassuring. How could they find their way? Which direction should they turn?

But it sounds so contradictory. When it seems nothing could be worse, Jesus tells them “THEN” a significant change will happen in their lives; they will behold the appearance of “the Son of Man” coming to them. The disciples must have been confused by what Jesus was telling them. They had been following Jesus, hoping for a fulfillment of a “prosperity gospel.” They were Jesus’ followers and surely only good would come their way. After all, they had pinned their hopes on Jesus because he had proved his powers by his miracles and forceful preaching. Surely he would not fail them and his opposition triumph!

Jesus echoes their faith and hope speaking to them in apocalyptical language. He was preparing them for a terrible disappointment. But that would not be the end of the story. Amid the collapse Jesus is asking them to trust and have hope in him, even when their world turns dark.

As threatening as today’s gospel is, with all its vivid and stressful imagery of pain and despair, in the end it is not a gospel of doom. It certainly includes the harsh realities of life. As I write this in mid-October the leader of Hamas has been killed by the Israelis, along with 40,000 Palestinian civilians. We wonder, “What’s next?” Last week was the anniversary of the slaughter of the Israeli civilians; the war in Ukraine grinds on; Sudan is starving, the West in our country and parts of South America are suffering another drought and several more men had been executed here in our country. I will run out of ink before I can finish a list of the world’s present distress. And I have not even mentioned the agony of people I know who are suffering severe illnesses and family tragedies.

Amid his dire predictions, Jesus tells his followers to look well at the small buds about to blossom, harbingers of summertime. Distress is not the final word of the story. He speaks to us: look more closely. What signs of hope do we see that lift our spirits, ever so slightly, with hope. Hang on to them, they are reminders that God has not left us on our own, and are assurances Christ is coming with new life for us.

Jesus is advising us: Keep going – God is coming and will sustain us in our times of transitions. Next week is the feast of “Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe.” Today’s gospel seems to be preparing us for a time of sobriety, vision and hope – Advent.

Click here for a link to this Sunday’s readings:
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/111724.cfm

QUOTABLE

(from Letters to a young Poet)

 

. . . .be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves like the locked rooms and like books that are written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.

 

Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 – 1926) was a Bohemian-Austrian poet and art critic. He is
considered one of the most significant poets in the German language

JUSTICE BULLETIN BOARD

And those who lead the many to justice shall be like the stars forever.
Daniel 12:3

Justice. You cannot escape this word if you study the Bible. Some Catholics misunderstand this word, so here is the biblical understanding of justice as our Church teaches. The 1986 USCCB document, Economic Justice for All (#39), states, “Biblical justice is more comprehensive than subsequent philosophical definitions. It is not concerned with a strict definition of rights and duties, but with the rightness of the human condition before God and within society. Nor is justice opposed to love; rather, it is both a manifestation of love and a condition for love to grow” [10]. God’s justice begins to make more sense.

We say that God is love and we also say that God is just. Truly, for human beings to live and thrive in their dignity as human persons who are loved by their Creator, their environment has to be a just one. Human potential is lost in the struggle to survive in unjust situations that may be perpetuated by fellow human beings. As Jesus’ disciples, we are called to create a more just world.

The word, disciple, from Latin discipulus , means, “to take the form of.” In the ancient world, students would literally live with their teacher and absorb into their own being, their teacher’s life. Can you imagine studying with Jesus, who is infinitely kind and loving, infinitely just and knowing? Can you imagine loving that teacher so much that you want to emulate them in everything that you do? Can you imagine yourself becoming a manifestation of love in the world?

In his 2009 encyclical, Charity in Truth (Caritas in Veritate), Pope Benedict XVI states: “To love someone is to desire that person’s good and to take effective steps to secure it. Besides the good of the individual, there is a good that is linked to living in society: the common good. It is the good of ‘all of us’. . .To desire the common good and strive towards it is a requirement of justice and charity . . .The more we strive to secure a common good corresponding to the real needs of our neighbors, the more effectively we love them” [7]. To be a disciple of Jesus in this present age, we must study his life, study the Church teachings that spring from his life and then, we must act with love and justice. Let’s light up this dark world with the twinkling of our stars!

Barbara Molinari Quinby, MPS, Director

Office of Human Life, Dignity, and Justice Ministries
Holy Name of Jesus Cathedral, Raleigh, NC

 

FAITH BOOK

 


Mini-reflections on the Sunday scripture readings designed for persons on the run. “Faith Book” is also brief enough to be posted in the Sunday parish bulletins people take home.


From today’s Gospel reading:

Heaven and earth will pass away,
but my words will not pass away

Reflection:

Our faith invites us to trust that, even amid complete upheaval, God has not abandoned us. “The tribulation” Jesus predicts for his disciples is about to take place for him. When their world collapses with Jesus’ death, will they remember and cling to his words and look forward to an entirely new Spring? The same can be asked of us.

So, we ask ourselves

  • As we face our own tribulations can we trust that Jesus’ words will not to fail us and that he will be faithful to us?
  • How can I be a symbol of Jesus’ steadfastness to others in their trials?

POSTCARDS TO DEATH ROW INMATES

“One has to strongly affirm that condemnation to the death penalty is an inhuman measure that humiliates personal dignity, in whatever form it is carried out." ---Pope Francis
Inmates on death row are the most forgotten people in the prison system. Each week I am posting in this space several inmates’ names and locations. I invite you to write a postcard to one or more of them to let them know that: we have not forgotten them; are praying for them and their families; or, whatever personal encouragement you might like to give them. If the inmate responds, you might consider becoming pen pals.

Please write to:

  • Roger Blakeney #0033802 (On death row since 9/10/1997)
  • Marcos Mitchell #0488288 (11/4/1997)
  • Elrico Fowler #0134151 (11/14/1997)

----Central Prison P.O. 247 Phoenix, MD 21131

Please note: Central Prison is in Raleigh, NC., but for security purposes, mail to inmates is processed through a clearing house at the above address in Maryland.

For more information on the Catholic position on the death penalty go to the Catholic Mobilizing Network: http://catholicsmobilizing.org/resources/cacp/

On this page you can sign “The National Catholic Pledge to End the Death Penalty.” Also, check the interfaith page for People of Faith Against the Death Penalty: http://www.pfadp.org/

DONATIONS

“First Impressions” is a service to preachers and those wishing to prepare for Sunday worship. It is sponsored by the Dominican Friars. If you would like “First Impressions” sent weekly to a friend, send a note to Fr. John Boll, OP at jboll@opsouth.org.

If you would like to support this ministry, please send tax deductible contributions to fr. Jude Siciliano, O.P.:

St. Albert Priory
3150 Vince Hagan Drive
Irving, Texas 75062-4736

Make checks payable to: Dominican Friars.

Or, go to our webpage to make an online donation:

http://www.PreacherExchanhe.com/donations.htm

RESOURCES

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We have compiled Four CDs for sale: Individual CDs for each Liturgical Year, A, B or C
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If you are a preacher, lead a Lectionary-based scripture group, or are a member of a liturgical team, these CDs will be helpful in your preparation process. Individual worshipers report they also use these reflections as they prepare for Sunday liturgy.

You can order the CDs by going to our webpage:  https://www.PreacherExchange.com and clicking on the “First Impressions” CD link on the left.

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1. "HOMILÍAS DOMINICALES" ---These Spanish reflections on the Sunday and daily scriptures are written by Dominican sisters and friars. If you or a friend would like to receive these reflections drop a note to "Fr. John J. Boll, O.P." <preacherexchange@att.net>
2. "VOLUME 2" is an opportunity for you to hear from the readers of First Impressions. To subscribe or Send your own reflections: Send them to "Fr. John J. Boll, O.P." <preacherexchange@att.net > Your contributions to Volume 2 are welcome.

OUR WEBSITE: https://www.PreacherExchange.com - Where you will find Preachers Exchange, which includes “First Impressions,” "Homilías Dominicales," and "Volume 2" as well as articles, book reviews, daily homilies and other material pertinent to preaching and Scripture reflection.

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