HOMILY - 33rd Sunday Ordinary Time Yr B

 
The church, on this Sunday every November, invites us to pause momentarily for serious thought. It directs our attention to the end of the world, the last judgement and the Lord’s coming in glory. Every age has its share of false prophets, scare-mongering, predicting doom and calamity, so we may not take easily to such a message. It’s apt to release, within our minds, great surges of fear about punishment, destruction and death. Yet scripture is not meant to frighten or threaten but to give consolation, hope and encouragement in life’s difficulties. The great truth of the gospel is that God’s love has triumphed over the power of evil and will put all things right. God is on our side and will see us through our present troubles.

The readings aim to focus our minds on an overall view of life’s purpose so as to encourage us to live on a more spiritual level. We are on an earthly pilgrimage and have within us deep-seated longings for a better world. At journey’s end we are hoping for an everlasting happiness, for a bright dawn to emerge out of our present darkness. What is important to remember is that our own death spells the end of our particular world. At that moment, life’s mission is accomplished and we go forward to meet Christ face to face. It may happen at any time and we’ve got to be prepared for the encounter. While we cannot avoid a sudden death, we can take steps against an unprepared death by living each day carefully as if it is our last and by keeping God ever in our sights. Nowadays we seldom hear talk of hell. It has become a forbidden conversation topic and yet the reality of it all is, Christ states that it is possible to shipwreck our lives, turn our backs on him and not be called into his company on the last day. Hell means eternal separation from God who is love; a calm and deliberate rejection of his mercy. It will be a sad parting, a missed opportunity, but God will always respect our freedom. We will have no-one to blame but ourselves for preventing God from drawing us to eternal life. Where we will stand when Christ comes, will depend on the way we are trying to live now. Being his friend at the moment of death will not be a matter of luck. We are doing what we are doing. Christ comes to us each day offering us his life and inviting us to his side. The call he makes at death is only the final in a series of approaches. Judgement is happening all the time.

If we are carrying God in our hearts wherever we go, heaven will not come as a surprise, but as a full blossoming of the world we have been building for ourselves. It makes sense to pause and do some spiritual stock-taking. We can all check what our relationship with God is like and where our hearts and values lie. Have we put our confidence in the way he has shown us? We are people with a glorious future so let’s not spoil it by refusing to live upright lives.