INTRODUCTION
Next Sunday is the Thirty-fourth as well as the last Sunday in the Church’s liturgical Cycle B when we will celebrate the Feast of Christ the King, and the following Sunday will mark the beginning of the Advent season and a new Liturgical Cycle C. Each year at this time, the Church asks us to meditate on the “last things” – Death, Judgment, Heaven and Hell. Meanwhile, as Christian people who are pilgrims here on earth, she points our attention to God who is both our destiny and our destination. And like the Jewish people of old and the early Christians who underwent the oppression of the enemies and were comforted with the promise of the imminent deliverance of their God, we are equally comforted with the message that our troubles are short-lived because our deliverance will surely come from the Lord.
FIRST READING: Daniel 12: 1-3
The book of Daniel is one of the apocalyptic books of the Old Testament which communicates its messages through stories and visions. At the time of this prophetic vision, the Jews including Daniel himself were under the Babylonian siege, under the powers and rulers of this world who established powerful and oppressive kingdoms. Daniel brings to the people a message of consolation and of hope, assuring them that evil will not reign forever, and that the powers and kingdoms of this world are not beyond God’s control. Thus one day they will be replaced by God’s own kingdom. This assuredly gives a clear perception that God has a sovereign power over creation.
The chapter 12 which we read today is the final vision of Daniel which announces the day of reckoning, the triumph of good over evil, the destruction of rebellious kingdoms, the imminent judgment and recompense and the sovereign reign of God. Amidst all these, Daniel brings one message to the exiled; ‘The Lord will surely deliver his own people.’
This prophesy is a prevision and a prefiguration of the Christian doctrine of resurrection, judgment and eternal life/eternal damnation.
SECOND READING: Hebrews 10:11-14.18
The author of the letter to the Hebrews compares the priesthood of the Old Covenant with the priesthood of the New Covenant. In the priesthood of the Old Covenant, it is the duty of the priest appointed by the law to offer a sacrifice of expiation, especially on the traditional day of ‘YOM KIPPUR’ (Lev 16:29; 23:27) in which he enters the Holy of Holies once in a year. During this time, one goat is slaughtered and the blood sprinkled in the Holy of Holies and on the people for purification. Another goat is charged with the sins of the people and sent into the wilderness (the goat that carries the sins of the people away) and to ensure that it never returns, it is being pushed off the cliff of the mountain.
In the theology of the writer to the Hebrews, this repeated rituals proved incapable of paying the price for the sins of the people. To achieve this, there is only one perfect priest and one perfect sacrifice required. It is Christ himself the High Priest and the perfect victim for the sacrifice capable of pleasing God. By his singular offering; he has offered once and for all the perfect sacrifice of forgiveness and a price for sins, and by consequence, he has sanctified his people.
We are not saved or made whole by any other means other than through the sacrifice of total giving of Christ. He snubbed himself off life in order that we may live. Through his death, we are sanctified and made the children of God.
GOSPEL: Mark 13:24-32
The Gospel of Mark was written shortly before the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem (70A.D), at a time when the Christians were suffering persecutions. Many Christians began wondering why Jesus did not return as he had promised. Some even wondered whether he had really been the promised Messiah. Hence, Mark tried to strengthen their faith by quoting Jesus’ predictions of the coming persecution of the faithful (13:9-13), the destruction of Jerusalem (13:2, 7-9, 14-20), the rise of the Anti-Christ (13:5-6, 21-23), the end of the world, and Christ’s Second Coming (13:24-26).
Like Daniel in the first reading, this gospel is filled with apocalyptic imagery. The audience of Mark is the persecuted christian community whom he offers hope by reminding them of Jesus’ promise that wars, natural disasters and betrayal by family members would be overcome when the Son of Man returned to earth to gather in his loved ones. His coming will be accompanied by cosmic signs and changes. This informs the christians about the type of authority that Christ possesses; at his appearing, every created thing must tremble. The sun will be darkened because he is the divine Sun that illumines creation. The moon will cease to give light because his presence radiates light. The stars will fall because his presence quakes everything. The powers in heaven and under the heavens will be shaken, because he comes with great power and glory such that no one had ever possessed or will ever possess. The kingdom’s of this world will fall. The kings and the mighty and every rebellious kingdom will be subjected under his authority. No power can challenge him. And He comes to gather his elect from the four corners of the earth.
LIFE MESSAGE:
1. Amidst the chaos of our time, this message comes to us with such a heavy weight that transcends the cultural and societal focus of our time. It comes to reawaken our hope, that as those who belong to the camp of Christ, we should not be carried away by the beauty of this world and its promises because they will not last. Rather, we should keep the faith we have received and be in a watchful readiness for Christ.
2. For Christians all over the world who are subjected to all kinds of oppression as a result of their faithfulness to the gospel, this page of the gospel brings them message of hope that no power under the heavens is greater than the power of Christ. At the appointed time, he will come to vindicate his people.
3. This passage equally calls for repentance. Since it speaks of the gathering of the elect, it means that everybody may not be an elect. It reminds us of the need to hasten up, the need to rise from the dust of sin and corruption in order to embrace Christ.
4. “No one knows the time except the Father.” By this Jesus informs us of the sovereignty of God as opposed to the limitedness of creation. He equally calls us to be ready always since we do not have the time-table of this great day of reckoning so as not to be taken unaware.
5. Let us also not forget one fundamental factor that suggests the ‘temporality’ of our existence.
Our aches and pains, the excruciating suffering imposed on us by ill-health and the frequent doctor’s appointments should remind us of God’s warning that we are growing unfit to live in this world, hence the urgent need to get ready for another world different from this physical world, the world of eternal happiness, the world of God and with God.
PRAYER
God, maker of heaven and earth and all that they contain; we thank you for the richness of your Word. It is a blessed reminder of the temporality of our existence on earth. Help us therefore to know the shortness of our lives so that we may gain the wisdom of heart. We are not always ready and prepared for the end because we are often distracted by the glories of this world. Grant we pray, that your Word today may warm our hearts and keep us aglow in the spirit so that we may hasten our steps to the eternal promise by living a life worthy of our calling through Christ our Lord. Amen.
PAX VOBIS!
