Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time - Cycle B
November 18, 2012
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Opening Prayer
First Reading: Daniel 12:1-3
Psalm: 16:5,8-11
Second Reading: Hebrews 10:11-14, 18
Gospel Reading: Mark 13:24-32
- This is the last reading from the Gospel of Mark as this liturgical year approaches a close. After next Sunday’s Solemnity of Christ the King begins Advent, the season of the liturgical year that is a time of waiting for Our Lord’s coming at Christmas—and at the end of time.
- In this Sunday’s Gospel reading, it is now Tuesday of Holy Week. Jesus has just predicted the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple (Mark 13:1-2), a prediction that would come to pass some 40 years later—a generation—in the year 70 AD at the hands of the Romans. For the Jews of Jesus’ time, this was an extremely distressing prophecy. The destruction of the Temple would be, in effect, the end of their religious and social world, as they knew it. His disciples ask him privately when this will happen and what the sign of this will be (Mark 13:3).
- He answers their two questions in what is called the “Olivet Discourse” because this discussion takes place on the Mount of Olives outside Jerusalem (verse 3). This Sunday’s Gospel is his answer to their second question. Even as his words about the Temple signaled an end to a world, in a secondary but real way it is a prediction about the end of our world, either at our own deaths or at his Second Coming, whichever comes first.
QUESTIONS:
- The 1st Reading from Daniel implies that the Kingdom of God is assured to the faithful and wise, but that it comes through discernment and tribulation. How is this borne out in the teachings of Jesus as found in the Gospel Readings?
- Do you live your life as if you were “consecrated”, i.e., being made holy (see 2nd Reading, verse 14)? Why or why not? In what ways is God calling you to practice greater holiness?
- How are we to understand Jesus’ warnings about cosmic disturbances (verses 24-25)? Compare with Isaiah 13:10-13, Ezekiel 32:7, Amos 8:9, Joel 2:28-32, and Acts 2:14-21. What do all the events related to these verses have in common?
- To who does the title “son of Man” in verse 26 refer to (see Daniel 7:13)?
- How does the “fig tree” lesson (verses 28-29) answer the disciple’s question from verse 4? (see also Mark 11:12-14, 20-21)
- What promises does Jesus give in verses 30-31? How would this comfort (or discomfort) the disciples? What impact do these promises have on you?
- How can we prepare our hearts and minds in daily conversion for that time when Jesus “will come again to judge the living and the dead” (Nicene Creed)?
Catechism of the Catholic Church: §§ 673, 474
Let us not put off from one moment to another what we should do because the next moment is not yet ours. –St. Padre Pio