Breaking Open the Word
By James Cavanagh
Nov. 14: 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Scripture readings:
- Malachi 3:19-20
- Psalm 98:5-9
- 2 Thessalonians 3:7-12
- Luke 21:5-19
Overview:
Two themes stand out in this week’s readings: the last judgment and the coming of Christ. Malachi is the last book in the Old Testament. As such it forms a kind of ‘bridge’ between the Old Testament and the New Testament. “Malachi” means “my messenger.” Though he criticizes the priests and the people for their sins, the book ends in hope that God will raise up a remnant that will be faithful to the covenant.
Malachi was associated with the temple and lived in Jerusalem around 500-450 B.C. following the Babylonian Captivity. He was primarily concerned with restoring the priesthood and temple worship, the sanctity of marriage and justice for the powerless and the poor. When the Lord comes, he “will rule the world with justice and the peoples with equity” (Ps 98:9).
In this week’s second reading, the apostle Paul reminds us of the importance of work. Some members of the Church in Thessalonica believed that the “day of the Lord” was imminent and so work was pointless. As a result, they stopped working and lived off the toil of others. Worse yet, they were busybodies, upsetting the peace and stability of the Church. Paul urges them to mind their own business and “work quietly.”
In the Gospel reading, Jesus warns the disciples about the crisis that’s about happen. The days will come,” he says “when there will not be left a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down.” Persecutions would test the faith of the disciples, but not ‘a hair on their heads would be destroyed.’ Jesus’ prediction of Jerusalem’s destruction came to pass in A.D. 70 when Rome crushed a rebellion.
Key verse:
“He will rule the world with justice and the peoples with equity” (Ps 98:9)
“Catechism of the Catholic Church”:
“Before Christ’s second coming, the Church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers. The persecution that accompanies her pilgrimage on earth will unveil the ‘mystery of iniquity’ in the form of a religious deception offering men an apparent solution to their problems at the price of apostasy from the truth” (No. 675).
Pope Benedict XVI:
“From the beginning the Church lives in prayerful waiting for her Lord, scrutinizing the signs of the times and putting the faithful on guard against recurring messiahs, who from time to time announce the world’s end as imminent. Let us not fear the future, even when it can appear with bleak colors, because the God of Jesus Christ, who entered history to open it to its transcendent fulfillment, is the alpha and the omega, the first and the last (Rv 1: 8)” (Angelus, Nov. 18, 2007).
Life application:
For the wicked the “day of the Lord” will burn like fire, but for the faithful it will come as the “sun of justice with healing in its rays.” Therefore we have nothing to fear. Jesus did not promise to shield us from every misfortune, but he did assure us that no matter what, “not a hair on your head will be destroyed.” For the One who judges, is also the One who heals and forgives.
James Cavanagh is director of Evangelization and Catechesis for Metro-Area Parishes of the Denver Archdiocese. For information on subscribing to "Breaking Open the Word, click here. For archives click here.
