November 15, 2009 33rd Ordinary Sunday of the Year Dan. 12:1-3; Heb. 10:11-14, 18; Mk. 13:24-32 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________   Readings: http://www.usccb.org/nab/111509.shtml   ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________   Jesus clearly calls out to us “to watch, be alert, don’t fall asleep,” don’t drift into spiritual lethargy about the evil around you. Also, we are not to fall asleep to the grand possibilities of God’s wonderful miracles to unfold before our eyes. Stay awake. Be awake to the evil that is all around us and also be alert to the divine, miraculous possibilities that abundantly surround us. Our eyes, our ears, our minds, our hearts are to be awake to the miraculous wonders of God all around us. One never knows when God is coming to him and for him. There is always that element of surprise.   Watchfulness is to be the action and attitude by which Jesus’ disciples receive His coming. As an action, watching takes the shape of being a servant within the master’s household. A servant has a calling, tasks, and responsibilities. A watchful servant stewards those responsibilities well, so as not to be caught sleeping at his or her post when the master comes. Our watching implies that we are faithful to our task and calling, even in the midst of opposition and awfulness. Well prepared for the coming of the master, we intently watch in hope for His coming. We peer through the shadows eager to see how the Lord will come and slice the darkness with His power and glory. Our hope in His coming is certain, so we watch with anticipation. While the turning of the season may disappoint, Jesus will not. His coming is our hope in the shadows.   When we are travelling over life’s troubled seas, we have hope because there is one who has come, one who can speak over the troubled waters and bring peace and calmness. When we are struggling and feel captive to things we can’t escape, we have hope because we understand there is one who has come, one who sets the prisoners free. When we feel like we are dominated by disease and sickness, we have hope because we know there is one who has come, one who is the divine healer who makes us whole; one who calls himself the resurrection and the life. When we are torn and broken by sin, can’t escape our guilt, and feel the sting of shame, when the past dominates us, we have hope because there is one who has come, is coming, and will come again; one who forgives us, redeems us, and offers us salvation; one who rescues us from whatever we need to be rescued.   Jesus wants us to understand this truth as a truth that applies to the end time and to all of time: the Son of Man will come. In the midst of everything going wrong, the Son of Man has come, is coming, and will come again.     <<   Previous: 32nd Sunday of the Year  |   Next: Christ the King >>     Go Back to SERMONS (Year B)