33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle B, Year II)

Community Word: Jesus the King reigns in the hearts of those who are faithful to Him.

Theme: Those who are faithful to Jesus the King stay vigilant for His coming.

Promise: “You will show me the path to life, fullness of joys in your presence, the delights at your right hand forever.”(Ps 16:11)

Reflection:
From the Book of Daniel 12: 1-3 we are shown a vivid picture on how the world will end, marked by great upheaval and destruction. While the Gospel of Mark 13:24-32 speaks of our Lord’s second coming – “the stars will be falling from the sky and the powers in the heavens will be shaken” as the Son of Man comes in the clouds. Then the peoples of the earth and their rulers will know who is the true Kind and Ruler over all.

The message comes without any ambiguity: we must always be ready to face our judgement because we do not know the day or hour when we will be called from this life, be it our own death or the second coming of Christ. Death is like “a thief in the night” who comes unexpectedly when we are unaware. Jesus says, “Watch therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming… Therefore you must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect,” (Mt 24: 42-44). He is instructing us to be on watch and be vigilant about our own spiritual state, to be circumspect and spiritually awake as we go through life. We have to be vigilant in our covenant with God and take heed to constantly examine our walk in seeking and imitating Jesus.

We have to be always ready to face our own death and the second coming of Jesus. In both phenomena, death is the most certain to come especially when one is in his twilight years. When and how this world will end is less of importance to us. But what is essential is to know that we will leave this world sooner than we think and our eternal life will depend on the state of our conscience at the moment of our departure to the next life. It is vital that we are always in the state of grace when that time comes.

But physical death is not the end of life. It is the beginning of the true life that will never end. “Life is changed by death, not taken away,” says the liturgy for the Mass for the dead. The years on earth are God’s gift to enable us to earn the infinitely greater gift which, in His loving mercy, prepares us for eternity. Pope Francis explains: “At the end of our life, we will be judged on love, that is, on our commitment to love and serve Jesus in the least of our brothers and the needy.”If we are vigilant to live this commitment to the end, we will inherit the Kingdom of God and live eternally in His power and glory.

God, in His mercy, exhorts each one of us to be ready when our call comes. We cannot do anything about when and where that call will be, but there is much we can do about the state of our relationship with God when death comes. With the help of God’s grace, we can be assured that all will be well with us. We cannot avoid sudden death, for instance, but we can avoid an unprepared death by always striving to live in peace with God. This does not mean that we should always be on our knees praying, or that we should not be interested in the things and joys of this world. Far from it; God wants us to use the things of this world for the service of God’s people.

So, we ask ourselves now: How will I fare if I am called to render an account of how much I have loved and lived my life? If to our dismay we are not worthy yet because there are things that we need to change before facing the Judge, then we can resolve to set them aright now. We may get another chance, another warning, or we may not. If we value our eternal happiness, we will take this “warning” and put our books in order. Make peace with God and our neighbors and do everything to persevere in this resolution. While we persist in living a holy life, we are always assured by God’s promise: “You will show me the path to life, fullness of joys in your presence, the delights at your right hand forever,”( Ps 16:11 ).

Prayer:
Father God, once again You bring us into a realization that our own death and the second coming of Your Son, Jesus, are imminent. Grant us the grace to be constantly watchfull, living our lives following the life of our Lord Jesus. As we imitate Jesus, may we find ourselves worthy to face our own death and always prepared for His second coming. All these we pray in the mighty name of Jesus, through the powerful intercession of Mary our Mother, St. Joseph and St. Padre Pio. Amen

Reflection Questions:
1. God has given me a gift of community. Am I giving my whole self to it as a way of being vigilant to my commitment?
2. As a son of God, am I true to my commitment of knowing Jesus so that I may love Him more each day and to be able serve Him and His people?

This Week’s Daily Mass Reading Guide:
Nov 18, 2018 (Sun) – Dn 12:1-3/Ps 16:5, 8-11/Hb 10:11-14, 18/Mk 13:24-32
Nov 19, 2018 (Mon) – Rv 1:1-4;2:1-5/Ps 1:1-6/Lk 18:35-43
Nov 20, 2018 (Tue) – Rv 3:1-6,14-22/Ps 15:2-5/Lk 19:1-10
Nov 21, 2018 (Wed) – Rv 4:1-11/Ps 150:1-6/Lk 19:11-28
Nov 22, 2018 (Thu) – Rv 5:1-10/Ps 149:1b-2,3-6,9/Lk 19:41-44
Nov 23, 2018 (Fri) – Rv 10:8-11/Ps 119:14,24,72,103,111,113/Lk 19:45-48
Nov 24, 2018 (Sat) – Rv 11:4-12/Ps 144:1,2,9,10/Lk 20:27-40

“Ignorance of the Bible is ignorance of Christ. Read your Bible daily!”