33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C
Malachi 3:19-20a
Psalm 98:5-6, 7-8, 9
2 Thessalonians 3:7-12
Luke 21:5-19
We are in the month of November, the last month in the liturgical year, when the Church turns Her eyes to contemplate the ultimate realities, the lasting ones (called novissima in Latin or eschatological in Greek). We began the month by celebrating the Blessed ones (All Saints), by praying for those who have left us (the Faithful Departed), and we close with readings that help us to consider the brevity of our time on earth and the value of the eternal ones.
This Sunday can be considered the last Sunday of the current liturgical year. Formally speaking, the last one is next Sunday, consecrated to the feast of Christ the King to remind us of the universal reign of Jesus Christ achieved by way of His Paschal Mystery. The refrain of today’s Responsorial Psalm anticipates it: “The Lord comes to rule the earth with justice.”
The first reading echoes this same idea: “for you who fear my name, there will arise the sun of justice with its healing rays” (literally, “healing in its wings”). This reading comes from the book of the prophet Malachi, which is, in the traditional arrangement of the Catholic biblical canon, the last book before the gospels. Today’s passage is almost the end of the book and promises divine intervention to establish justice. When you turn the page, the next thing you read is the gospel, which proclaims that such an intervention has taken place. No surprise then that Malachi, which means “my messenger” in Hebrew, is echoed in Mark 1:2 when referring to St. John the Baptist.
Thus, the end of the liturgical year is characterized by a juxtaposition of two mysteries of our faith: the first coming, the Incarnation (somehow prophesied by Malachi,) and the coming at the end of times, the Parousia. The expectation of the Jews for the coming of the Messiah helps us to understand better how we are to be ready for the coming of Jesus at the end of times.
In the Gospel passage, which is only the first part of the entire speech, Jesus indicates that many things will happen: wars, persecutions, earthquakes, famines, plagues, awesome sights and mighty signs, betrayal, etc. Still, none of these events must create restlessness or panic in us: “not a hair on your head will be destroyed. By your perseverance you will secure your lives.”
The Greek term under “perseverance” is hypomoné, which has been variously translated: “steadfast endurance,” “patience,” “constancy.” It means literally “to stay (meno) under (hypo),”, like supporting a weight, being under pressure. It describes the endurance of hope being sustained by faith and lived through charity. The ultimate reason is indicated in the Alleluia verse: “Stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand.”
The expectation of the last coming of Jesus (Parousia) was powerfully experienced by the first Christians. The impact of Jesus’ resurrection, so fresh in their minds because it had so recently happened, seems to have created an intense expectation for Jesus’ final coming. As a matter of fact, the oldest writing of the New Testament, the First Letter to the Thessalonians (dated around 59 A.D.), contains very expressive passages in that regard, so much so that it seems that some Christians stopped working because of the imminence of the end. Such a response prompted St. Paul to write the Second Letter, a passage of which is today’s second reading. The Apostle had to calm down the expectation and bring the faithful back to understanding that they still needed to work and support themselves (the scholars’ presumption was that some of faithful were taking advantage of the situation).
The Apostle’s advice is valid for us as well. It is what we pray for in today’s Collect Prayer: “Grant us, we pray, O Lord our God, the constant gladness of being devoted to you,” repeated in the Prayer over the Offering. This is what the expression “those who fear my name” in the First Reading means, the devotion or dedication to the work of God (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1070: “In the New Testament the word ‘liturgy’ refers not only to the celebration of divine worship but also to the proclamation of the Gospel and to active charity. In all of these situations it is a question of the service of God and neighbor.”) It is echoed in the Communion Antiphon: “To be near God is my happiness, to place my hope in God the Lord.”