That Day Or Hour, Not Angels, Nor The Son, Know

1. Hope in a New World
2. My Plans for You Are Peace

Introduction
1. Hope in a New World
Some parts of Scripture, like today’s readings, speak of calamities and disasters as signs of an old world decaying and Jesus coming in judgment. Today’s television and other media bring into our homes the disasters and violence and suffering of the whole world; and people ask: where all this is leading us. These are signs for us today that the world in which we live is decaying, but we should not overlook the signs of hope too in a fairer and more unified world, the crumbling of tyrannies on the right and the left. These are, like budding branches on a tree, signs of hope in a new world that is growing, and in the coming of God among us, his people. Let us celebrate this hope in this Eucharist.

2. My Plans for You Are Peace
Today the liturgy speaks to us of God’s judgment and the end of time. When and how the very end will come is known to God alone. But this we know for sure: the end time has begun with Christ, when he became one of us in his humanity, died and rose from the dead. With him among us now we live our faith even in the trials of life, not in fear but in the firm hope that God’s love and justice will triumph and that Christ will complete in us in God’s good time what we try to build up as we trust in him. For we are people of hope in a loving and saving God. Let us express this hope in this Eucharist.

First Reading: God Will Raise His Faithful
To the faithful Jews, upset on account of persecutions, the prophet speaks a message of hope: God will save you. Even if you lose your life, God will give you eternal life.

1 Reading Daniel 12:1-3
In those days, I Daniel,
heard this word of the Lord:
“At that time there shall arise
Michael, the great prince,
guardian of your people;
it shall be a time unsurpassed in distress
since nations began until that time.
At that time your people shall escape,
everyone who is found written in the book.

“Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake;
some shall live forever,
others shall be an everlasting horror and disgrace.

“But the wise shall shine brightly
like the splendor of the firmament,
and those who lead the many to justice
shall be like the stars forever.”

Responsorial Psalm 16:5, 8, 9-10, 11
R. (1) You are my inheritance, O Lord!

O LORD, my allotted portion and my cup,
you it is who hold fast my lot.
I set the LORD ever before me;
with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed.
R. You are my inheritance, O Lord!

Therefore my heart is glad and my soul rejoices,
my body, too, abides in confidence;
because you will not abandon my soul to the netherworld,
nor will you suffer your faithful one to undergo corruption.
R. You are my inheritance, O Lord!

You will show me the path to life,
fullness of joys in your presence,
the delights at your right hand forever.
R. You are my inheritance, O Lord!

Second Reading: We Are Saved by Christ’s One Sacrifice
Offering his sacrifice once and for all, Jesus has overcome sin and given us the power to live God’s life.

2 Reading Hebrews 10:11-14, 18
Brothers and sisters:
Every priest stands daily at his ministry,
offering frequently those same sacrifices
that can never take away sins.
But this one offered one sacrifice for sins,
and took his seat forever at the right hand of God;
now he waits until his enemies are made his footstool.
For by one offering
he has made perfect forever those who are being consecrated.

Where there is forgiveness of these,
there is no longer offering for sin.

Alleluia Luke 21:36
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Be vigilant at all times
and pray that you have the strength to stand before the Son of Man.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel: See the Signs of the Lord’s Coming
In mysterious terms, Jesus speaks of the difficult coming of his full kingdom in this world. Jesus will bring it to completion in us.

Gospel Mark 13:24-32
Jesus said to his disciples:
“In those days after that tribulation
the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light,
and the stars will be falling from the sky,
and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.

“And then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in the clouds’
with great power and glory,
and then he will send out the angels
and gather his elect from the four winds,
from the end of the earth to the end of the sky.

“Learn a lesson from the fig tree.
When its branch becomes tender and sprouts leaves,
you know that summer is near.
In the same way, when you see these things happening,
know that he is near, at the gates.
Amen, I say to you,
this generation will not pass away
until all these things have taken place.
Heaven and earth will pass away,
but my words will not pass away.

“But of that day or hour, no one knows,
neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”

Commentary
‘Apocalyptic’ is the word used to describe the kind of writing we see in today’s gospel reading. It is practically impossible for us to understand the serious meaning of this today, for the only apocalyptic we hear is from the lips of fundamentalists who have become a little unhinged from reality and who enjoy gloating in advance over the destruction of the world. Biblical apocalypse was written in times of persecution, to encourage the persecuted by telling them that their sufferings were foreseen by God, and that they would prevail in the end. Courage, not fear, was being promoted. One aspect of it we can relate to fairly readily in our day: transience. Everything is passing, everything that is living will die. We tend to hold this reality away from us because it is too painful to think about. But the Scriptures tell us to think about these things. “Like a weaver you (God) have rolled up my life, you cut me off from the loom” (Is 38:12). It is a pagan thing to deny death, for if there is no death there is no resurrection.

Blessing
We should not wait for the full coming of Christ
in fear and trembling but in hope.
God is not out to catch us in a weak moment,
for he is a saving and loving God.
Neither should we expect him passively
for he has given us a new world to build,
to bring it his justice, friendship and peace.
It is a task that is above our strength,
but which we can carry out
if we live the Gospel as a community,
with the blessing of almighty God,
the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. R/ Amen.

Let us go as people of hope
who trust in the Lord.
R/ Thanks be to God.