SUNDAY
33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time.
1st
2nd
Gospel
In both the 1st
1st
The Jewish
people were being persecuted for their faith under the Greek king, Antiochus Epiphanes who looted the temple and erected an altar to a
pagan god in the sanctuary. All had to honour the pagan gods and those found
practising the Law were put to death.
The aim of the
Book of Daniel was to sustain faith and hope among the persecuted Jews. The end
will come by God's power in God's good time and each nation will have an
advocate in the heavenly court.
Michael will
stand up to represent
This mention of
everlasting life is the first clear reference to a belief in the resurrection
from the dead that we find in the Bible.
Gospel
This passage is
taken from the farewell discourse of Jesus in Chapter 13 which draws on the
apocalyptic tradition, which tells of the tribulations and the cosmic upheaval
which will precede the beginning of the new age when the mysterious figure of
the Son of Man will come to gather the elect from the four winds.
For Mark's
community it was a message of hope in the midst of persecution, something to
cling to while the Lord was absent and while they awaited the second coming. It
was intended to give them courage to endure to the end, which they expected to
come soon. The
Just as the new
leaves on the fig tree herald the coming of Summer, so too the persecutions and
tribulations herald the coming of the Son of Man and the beginning of the final
defeat of evil, and the coming of the reign of God.
Nobody knows
when this will happen except the Father, so there is no point in speculating
about it. If we remain faithful, then we will be prepared and it will be for us
a joyful time.
Updated by Br. Dick
Burke 8/11/2009.