November 18, 2012

Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 158

Reading 1 from the Holy Book of Daniel
Dn 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.

Daniel had a vision of the end times.   God told him that in that time, Michael, the Prince would arise.  He is described as the guardian of the Jews.  Therefore, I believe this is speaking of Michael the Archangel.  He is called "Prince" because he is the leader of the angels of God.

God tells Daniel that this will be a time of great distress.

At that time your people shall escape,
everyone who is found written in the book.

At that time, God says, the people who will survive will be those written in the book.  This is probably a reference to the Book of Life.

Philippians 4:3
And I intreat thee also, true yokefellow, help those women which laboured with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with other my fellowlabourers, whose names are in the book of life.

"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.

Sleep in the dust- is probably a reference to "death and hell".  This is where souls go until the Judgement.

Revelation 20:4-6
King James Version (KJV)
4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years....14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

As I imagine it, those "asleep in the dust" are in Purgatory (i.e. death) and hell (of the damned).  St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas taught that the souls in Purgatory and Hell are  punished with the same flames.

So, as I see it, those in Purgatory and in Hell will rise to the Judgement and then those in Purgatory will go to heaven and those in Hell will go into the Lake of Fire for eternity.

"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."

The wise are those who have kept the Commandments and have been admitted to the Tree of Life in heaven:

Revelation 22:13-15
King James Version (KJV)
13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
15 For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 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!

God is heaven.  Union with God is heaven.  God has given Himself to us and those of us who accept Him will be united with Him in heaven.  Those who reject and deny Him will wind up in everlasting fire.

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!

This has a double meaning.  The veiled meaning is the reference to Jesus Christ who spent only three days in the Tomb before He was resurrected and ascended into heaven.

The other meaning is a reference to the Saints.  Not just the Canonized Saints.  But all who live according to the will of God.  God will not abandon His faithful people to corruption but they will be raised to eternal life.

1 Corinthians 15:22-24
King James Version (KJV)
22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.
24 Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. 

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!

"You will show me the path to life"- I think this is a veiled reference to the Trinity.  Scripture says that God will teach us:

Isaiah 48:17
Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the LORD thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go.

John 6:44
King James Version (KJV)
44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

Matthew 4:23
King James Version (KJV)
23 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. 

Luke 12:12
King James Version (KJV)
12 For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say. 

And so, God is teaching us and will teach us.  God is always teaching us and guiding us in the right way.

Reading 2 from St. Paul's Epistle to the Hebrews
Heb 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.

The Hebrews refers to the Jews.  And the sacrifices that St. Paul is referring to are the sacrifices to God of bulls, goats, lambs and other animals that the Jews were enjoined to perform by law.  But God did this so that the Jews would learn that the world is God's and that everything we have we owe to Him.

But these sacrifices did not actually wash away any 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.

This One refers to Christ.
The one sacrifice for sins is His sacrifice on Calvary.
His seat at the right hand of God means that He is God the Son returning to His Throne in heaven.
The day that His enemies become His footstool is the day of Judgement, when those who are condemned for their lack of faith in Christ will be condemned to the Lake of fire.

Consecrated means to be set aside for holy purposes.
Those being consecrated are those who have been baptized calling on the name of the Lord.
The one offering is the one sacrifice at Calvary.  But the graces of that one Sacrifice are imparted to us in the Sacraments.

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

This sentence is ambiguous.  The offering for sin which no longer exists is the animal sacrifice of the blood of bulls and goats.  These sacrifices have been annulled and made unnecessary by the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

A reading from the Holy GOSPEL according to St. Mark
Mk 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.

Jesus is teaching on the end times.  And they sound pretty scary.

"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.

And awesome.

"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.

Apparently, we will be able to know when these things are happening.

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.

The funny thing is that many of these thing happened when Jesus was crucified.  That' is why this is so hard to understand.  Because many generations passed since Jesus said these words.  But that generation had not passed away when Jesus was crucified.  Here are the events that occurred on the day of the Crucifixion:

Matthew 27:45-55
King James Version (KJV)
45 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.
46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
47 Some of them that stood there, when they heard that, said, This man calleth for Elias.
48 And straightway one of them ran, and took a spunge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink.
49 The rest said, Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save him.
50 Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.
51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;
52 And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,
53 And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.
54 Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God.
55 And many women were there beholding afar off, which followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering unto him:

So, I wonder whether this is what Jesus was talking about in a veiled manner.

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

And then He refers to the Judgment day again.  The exact day of which, only the Father knows.

Sincerely,

De Maria