Commentary

November 13, 2022

INTRODUCTIONLECTORSHOMILIESVIDEO ARCHIVECOMMENTARYCHURCH FATHERSCATECHISMPAPAL HOMILIESHOMILY STARTERSGROUP SHARINGCHILDRENMUSIC

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Mass Readings Explained

WORD SUNDAY

courtesy of Larry Broding

SERMON WRITER

courtesy of NIELL DONOVAN

Luke 21:8

The destruction of Jerusalem will be brought about by people following false prophets. Zealots will lead an insurrection against the Romans—a fatal move. Rome will destroy them.

Luke, in the book of Acts, records three instances of false prophets: Theudas led four hundred followers to a disastrous insurrection (Acts 5:36). Judas the Galilean did likewise (Acts 5:37). An unnamed Egyptian led four thousand followers to insurrection (Acts 21:38).

Our nation has no dearth of false prophets, both religious and political. Some claim to know when the world will end. Others predict disaster. Some are demagogues, preying on our fears. Others promote a Prosperity Gospel—”believe and grow rich.” Some promote secular materialism—a gospel of stocks, bonds, real estate, and quick-rich schemes—as if money were the answer. Still others promote hedonism, such as “The Playboy Philosophy,” as if pleasure were the answer. Others promote fitness, as if health were the answer. All ultimately fail us, some disastrously.

Luke 21:12a

“Before all these things” means “before the destruction of the temple” rather than “before the Second Coming.” In the book of Acts, Luke will report the fulfillment of these prophecies:

• The arrest of disciples (Acts 4:3; 5:17-18; 12:1-5; 21:27-36).

• Persecution of Christians, with Saul as one of the chief persecutors (Acts 7:52; 8:3; 9:5; 12:1-2; 22:4, 7-8; 26:9-11, 14-15)

• Problems with synagogues (Acts 6:9; 9:2; 13:44-51; 17:1-5; 18:4-7; 19:8-9; 22:19; 26:11)

• Problems with kings and governors (Acts 12:1; 23:24, 26, 33; 24:1, 10; 25:13-14, 23-24, 26; 26:2)

MASS READINGS EXPLAINED

Jesus makes an oracle about the destruction of the temple and how the siege of Jerusalem is going to happen (as had happened before in the history of Jerusalem). Jesus gives his disciples a warning that they will be persecuted during this siege of Jerusalem and to expect that to happen. As Jesus predicted, it was the Romans who sieged Jerusalem in under a generation around 70 AD, razed the temple to the ground and, as Josephus tells us, massacred millions of those residing there during the destruction of the city. Dr. Pitre discusses this historical reality as well as what it would have meant for a 1st century Jew when the temple was destroyed in this video.

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WIKPEDIA

33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year C)

FIRST READING

GOSPEL

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HEARERS OF THE WORD

33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year C)

SHOW/HIDE VIDEO

PORTABLE COMMENTARY

DR. KIERAN O’MAHONY

As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another

This attractive story—especially appealing to children—is found only in Luke’s Gospel. It is given an important place in the journey narrative, at the point where the road heads upwards towards Jerusalem. The matching first reading from Wisdom profiles the related theme of mercy but there are many more links, which the alert reader will notice.

SOURCE: Dr. Kieran J. O’Mahony, OSA

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INTEGRAL FAITH

33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year C)

Homily help highlighting care for our common home.
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LAUDATO SI PASSAGES

We fail to see that some are mired in desperate and degrading poverty, with no way out, while others have not the faintest idea of what to do with their possessions, vainly showing off their supposed superiority and leaving behind them so much waste which, if it were the case everywhere, would destroy the planet. In practice, we continue to tolerate that some consider themselves more human than others, as if they had been born with greater rights. (90)

The earth is essentially a shared inheritance, whose fruits are meant to benefit everyone. For believers, this becomes a question of fidelity to the Creator, since God created the world for everyone. (93)

We must regain the conviction that we need one another, that we have a shared responsibility for others and the world, and that being good and decent are worth it …When the foundations of social life are corroded, what ensues are battles over conflicting interests, new forms of violence and brutality, and obstacles to the growth of a genuine culture of care for the environment. (229)

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INTRODUCTION

Warnings and Good News

Today’s readings contain both warnings and good news. Evildoers will be punished and the just will experience healing. Malachi prophesies to a cynical, hopeless Israel that God will cleanse and heal them. Paul writes to the Thessalonians about lax, disorderly members who do nothing for the common good and let others feed them. In the gospel, Jesus predicts the downfall of the opulent temple built by King Herod to impress other rulers. He teaches that ostentation and the search for wealth and power are incompatible with the Kingdom of God.

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LAUDATO SI’ CONNECTION

Destruction of Our Environment

We honor God by caring for the common good of all creation, with earth being our common home. Wealthy societies that cause devastation to the environment by, for example, careless overconsumption of resources are causing the poor to suffer from the consequences of their lifestyles. Those who are harming the environment the least are the ones that suffer the most from its destruction. In this era of climate change, let us take stock of our own lifestyles and how best to use the earth’s limited resources wisely – and justly – for the sake of our less fortunate brothers and sisters who share our “common home.”

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SOURCE: Catholic Climate Covenant and the Association of Unites States Catholic Priests

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CELEBRATION

33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year C)

A liturgical cycle of commentary, planning and prayer resources published from 1972 until 2019.

PATRICIA DATCHUCK SANCHEZ

The Gift of Wisdom

As we look at God’s face as it has been reflected in our own lives over he past year, we also will probably experience the painful truth that we are not all we should be. Nor have we done all that we could do to reflect to our belonging to God. For that reason, the thought of the Lord’s second coming among us may fill us with dread and hopelessness. Nevertheless, we are to leave the judging of ourselves and others to God (Malachi). We are to set aside our fears and speculations; we are not to listen to naysayers or prophets of doom. Rather, we are to persevere in trusting God (Luke). We are also to busy ourselves with the ministry that Jesus has entrusted to us. Instead of minding the business of others (2 Thessalonians), we are to continue to look at God and struggle each day to give ourselves, our world and all others to God’s good keeping…

Jesus has promised that his gift of wisdom will be available to those who are willing to witness to him in truth even when that truthfulness might result in persecution. We, for our part, are to welcome his gift of wisdom, to continue looking first and foremost to God for every good grace, and then to roll with the punches and the pain until he comes again to take us home.

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SOURCE: Excerpt taken from the Cycle C Sunday Resources feature series. View the full series.

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AGAPE BIBLE STUDY

33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year C)

MICHAL E. HUNT

The Coming Day of the Lord, the Divine Judge

FIRST READING COMMENTARY

The Day of the LORD

The imminent coming of the “Day of the Lord” is a concept repeated often in Sacred Scripture. The Bible describes the event as a day of darkness and fear for humanity. There have been a series of days of divine judgment in salvation history, including the Great Flood in Noah’s time, the punishment of the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, God’s ten plagues on Egypt, the judgment on the apostate, idol-worshipping people of Israel in 722 BC, and the same fate for the people of Judah in 587 BC. However, the final “Day of Yahweh” or “Day of the Lord” is predicted to come at the end of the Age of Humanity. In the First Reading, God’s messenger, the prophet Malachi, proclaimed a Day of Yahweh’s judgment. The prophet wrote that it would be a day of wrath and destruction for the wicked but a day heralding justice and salvation for the righteous.

SECOND READING COMMENTARY

Models for Imitation

In the New Testament, the “Day of the Lord” is connected to Jesus Christ’s Second Advent, when He will return to judge the living and the dead. St. Paul wrote about this glorious event in the Second Reading. The Christian community at Thessalonica had the impression that the return of Jesus to judge the world was imminent. However, St. Paul wrote to warn them that since no one knows when Christ is returning, we must carry on with our ordinary lives and follow the example Paul and others on his missionary team set while they were with them. The community’s confusion at Thessalonica concerning the Second Advent reminds us of the tension between knowing something will happen and waiting for the event. We know that Christ will return, but we don’t know when (Mt 24:36-42); therefore, we must remain vigilant. Like the ten virgins in Jesus’s parable (Mt 25:1-13), we do not want to be like the five virgins who were unprepared and missed the bridegroom’s arrival. We want to remain in readiness for His return like the other five virgins in the parable, ready to present a purified soul in a state of grace for the coming of the divine Bridegroom, Jesus Christ.

GOSPEL COMMENTARY

The Warning Signs for the Judgment of Jerusalem

In the Gospel Reading, Jesus preached about Yahweh’s “Day of Judgment” that He predicted would fall upon His generation and the city of Jerusalem. The Gospel of Matthew records that Jesus warned the Jewish crowds of that coming day of war and destruction during His last week in Jerusalem when He said, “Amen, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation” (Mt 23:36). The judgment on Jesus’s generation for their rejection of the Son of God and His Gospel of salvation was fulfilled historically forty years after His Resurrection, in the summer of AD 70, when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple and sent thousands of Jews into exile across the Roman world. That event should remind us to be vigilant in our faith despite the unsettling and fearful times that continually unfold in human history. We must remain faithful to the teachings of our Savior and His Church and ready for the promised return of Jesus Christ at the end of the age when He comes in glory to judge the living and the dead (Apostles’ Creed) and usher in a final, eternal era of peace and justice.

As we approach the Advent Season in the liturgical calendar, our readings will frequently turn toward the promised appointment with the Risen Christ’s return as the Divine Judge. These readings will remind us to examine the condition of our souls. We need to be alert to temptations to sin because no one knows the day when the Lord will return to usher in the Last Judgment and separate the righteous from the wicked as He described in Matthew 25:31-46 (also see Rev 20:11-15).