HOMILY: Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)
Mark 13:24-32
17 November 2024
Fr. Ricky Cañet Montañez
How do you feel when people talk about the Second Coming of Jesus Christ? Are you excited? Are you afraid? Are you anxious? Generally, people dread the day because of the extraordinary occurrences that surround it — absolute darkness, the stars falling from the sky, the heavens are shaken, Jesus ascends in His full dazzling glory and many angels rushing throughout the earth to gather the elect. If you had a choice, do you want to be alive at the time to witness this? Do you fear that you may not be among the elect?
In the gospel Jesus speaks about the fig tree to show His disciples what it means to read signs. In Palestine, the fig tree is a prominent tree. It often symbolises blessings of the land. When the fig tree is budding, everyone knows what is at hand as it happens regularly along with the cycle of the seasons. The example of the fig tree is a metaphor for the nearness of the “Kingdom of God.” It was a subtle encouragement that they be aware and alert to the signs of the times; the signs of the presence of God!
Visible signs of the Kingdom are everywhere — signs that remind us that God’s Kingdom is at hand. How close is it to us? Will we only see it when Jesus returns? Actually, the Kingdom is already here in our present. Jesus Himself says that “the Kingdom of God is in our midst”! (Luke 17:21) It’s right where we are. Maybe not in its fullness, but we can have a glimpse of it and experience it. We just need to open our eyes, our hearts and our minds to see, to feel the truth of God’s Kingdom. The Kingdom of God is where Jesus reigns as King and everything is subject to His will. Thus, if Jesus is King in our homes, part of God’s Kingdom is inevitably there. If He reigns in our hearts, then we carry around a piece of the Kingdom.
Our readings emphasise, that Jesus has already purchased a place for us in God’s Kingdom by the sacrifice of His body and blood. It is up to us if we want to be a part of it by subjecting ourselves to Christ’s Kingship. Jesus is merely waiting for the fulness of God the Father’s plan for His people. Since only the Father knows the day and the hour, we wait vigilantly with Jesus. The challenge for us is to watch out for the telling signs. What are they? The readings this Sunday speak of calamities and disasters as signs of the passing world and ushering forth of the new world where God will no longer be hidden but among us forever. This time is not something to be feared if we are faithful to Jesus and His teachings. The prophet Daniel speaks of the resurrection of the dead when he says those who are asleep shall awake and some will live forever and the wise shall shine with splendour and be like the stars forever. What a glorious future awaits those who choose to follow Jesus!
On the other hand, the prophet also warns that until that time, it shall be a time of great distress. If we are to look carefully at current events wrought with conflicts, wars and natural disasters, it certainly seems like a time of distress! We witness women and men mourning the loss of spouses, sons and daughters to wars, diseases and famine all over the world. We watch in horror as families are devastated by natural and man-made disasters. We are told that our oceans, air, forests, and lands are polluted, in danger of biological death. These scenes do not come to us simply as visions because we readily see them on television or online. Are these signs? Naturally! Do they tell us specifically how much time we have before then? Not really … But should these signs be simply ignored? Just ignore them? We are in the homestretch. How long this will take place, we do not know. What is important is that we continue to live our lives as God’s people, subjects of His Kingdom. If we have not yet done this, now is the time to start.
The Kingdom is made present wherever the values of the Gospel are being lived even though it will not be fully realised until the very end when all of us are gathered in Him. For the time being, we have to do our part in making God reign in our midst. Our fears of the end times should not paralyse us. We can overcome any fear of the end times by relying on and trusting in God’s fidelity to His promises. One who is prepared need not fear. One who is true and faithful need not worry. One who trusts in God need not fear.
The Lord invites us to respond to the signs around us by a change of heart, of behaviour and of attitude. Today, now… at this very time as we look forward to God’s reign in our midst, let us ask for the grace to respond to the call of belonging to the Lord and His Kingdom for all eternity.
Vasily Kandinsky, All Saints I, 1911, glass painting, 34.5 x 40.5 cm (Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus)
Sunday Gospel Reflections 