33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle C, Year I)
Community Word: Christ’s sovereignty is honored in the way we live and share the gospel.
Theme: We honor the sovereignty of Christ when we remain steadfast in our faith.
Promise: “For you who fear my name, there will arise the sun of justice with its healing rays.” (Mal 3:20)
Reflection:
As we draw near to the end of the liturgical year, the church readings will remind us to reflect upon the most important aspect of our life – the inevitable end of our earthly journey.
The readings will talk about the final judgment when, at the second coming of Jesus, we shall render an account of our life. Did our choices conform to God’s purpose and will for us, or did we live in utter disregard of this future judgment?
Dismayed by the tragedies and challenges we faced in life – personal tragedies, natural disasters, persecutions, plagues, etc – did we doubt God’s mercy and grace, perhaps even blamed Him? Did we ever lose sight of our identity and sense of mission and purpose as Christians?
No matter how we lived in the past, it is time to realign our priorities and prepare for our final encounter with the Creator. We should devote our remaining days to doing what we know will be pleasing to Him – sincerely loving and faithfully serving Him, loving our neighbor as he continues to love us, doing good works, helping the poor and those in need. No one knows the time or the hour when our lives will be required of us, and we must remain vigilant, never allowing ourselves fall out of God’s grace. Failure to persevere and hold on to our faith will put to waste our long wait for the promised heaven.
The time given us on earth is brief, numbered and fleeting. In all that we do, and the choices we make, He must be our choice – our only choice. For everyone and everything must come to an end. There is an end to success and failure; an end to joy and grief. Even what we consider best and worst will come to pass. So let us learn to detach ourselves from this transient world, for everything will end for us, and the world will move on without our presence.
As Christians, we should be aware that our primary role is to help build God’s kingdom on earth. Let us be reminded that the trials we face in this life cannot be compared to the glory that is to come, and that “by your perseverance you will secure your lives,” (Lk 21:19). No matter how difficult our journey, we must remain steadfast in faith, be messengers of hope, bearers of light and above all, witnesses to His truth. We have to work with love and with fidelity. And if we truly want to glorify God in whatever we are doing, we ought to give for Him our best. This, fittingly, is the theme for the 33rd Sunday: We honor the sovereignty of Christ when we remain steadfast in our faith.
Genuine followers of Christ are “in the world, but are not of the world.” Living a simple life full of hope and trust in the Lord will enable us to face the most trying situations, and for us, “there will arise the sun of justice with its healing rays” (Mal. 4:20).
Reflection Questions:
1. Do I believe that when judgment time comes, I will have to account for my time here on earth?
2. Do I worry more about how the world will end, than how I will be judged by my Creator?
This Week’s Daily Mass Reading Guide:
November 17, 2013 (Sun) Mal 3:1-,20/Ps 98:8-9/2Thes 3:7-12/Lk 21:5-19
November 18, 2013 (Mon) 1Mc 1:10-15,41-43,54-57,62-64/Ps 119:53,61,134,150,155,158
Lk 18:35-43
November 19, 2013 (Tues) 2Mc 6:18-31/Ps 3:2-7/Lk 19:1-10
November 20, 2013 (Wed) 2Mc 7:1,20-31/Ps 17:1,5,6,8,15/Lk 19:11-28
November 21, 2013 (Thur) 1Mc 2:15-29/Ps 50:1,2,5,6,14,15/Lk 19:41-44
November 22, 2013 (Fri) 1Mc 4:3-37,52-59/1Chr 29:10,11,11,12,12/Lk 19:45-48
November 23, 2013 (Sat) 1Mc 6:1-13/Ps 9:2,2,4,6,16,19/Lk 20:27-40
“Ignorance of the Bible is ignorance of Christ. Read your Bible daily!”
