THIRTY-THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
17 NOVEMBER 2024
As
we come to the end of this liturgical year, our Scripture readings speak of the
end of the world and the Second Coming.
They use apocalyptic images. They
are usually extravagant visons of things we have never experienced on this
earth and often come with destruction and fear.
The Prophet Daniel uses apocalyptic images to speak of how “many of
those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake.” Mark also uses apocalyptic images to speak of
the end. The sun will darken, the moon
will not give its light, the stars will fall from the sky. Most spectacularly, the Son of Man will come
in the clouds. Then, as often happens
with these apocalyptic visions, we are told to be on the lookout for the
end. But, we are also told that we know
not the time or the hour. Only God can
know the time or the hour.
Too many
times, those instructions are ignored.
People continue to look for the signs that the end is near. For centuries, predictions of the end have
failed to materialize. So, instead of
trying to determine when the end will occur, we can examine what the word
“apocalypse” really means. While
apocalypse does involve the destruction and end of the world as we know it, the
word actually means the uncovering or revealing of heavenly mysteries. Instead of trying to determine the time when
the Lord will come again, we can find our role in this uncovering or revealing in
the fig tree that Jesus mentions.
Throughout the Old Testament, the fig tree is used to symbolize the
Israelites, God’s chosen people. In just
a few chapters prior to today’s Gospel, Jesus curses the fig tree for not
bearing fruit. As baptized members of
the Body of Christ, the image applies to us, because we are God’s chosen people. Fig trees are supposed to be tellers of
time. Because they signal when the
seasons are changing, we are called to be signalers for the Second Coming of
Jesus Christ. We are the fig tree that
others can look at to see the coming of Christ.
We are able to do this when we produce leaves and bear good fruit.
The
Mysteries of the Kingdom of God have been revealed to us in many ways,
especially in the readings from Sacred Scripture and in the teachings of the
Church. We are called to be heralds of
those Mysteries by the way we live our lives, especially in this time of deep
division and conflict, both in our society and in our Church. We reveal these Mysteries when we cultivate
good leaves by taking time to visit the sick or respond to the needs of the
poor and the vulnerable, or when we show compassion to friends or family who
are having a rough time. We bear good
fruit when we learn to respect the image of Jesus Christ in those who drive us
crazy or in those who disagree strongly with us. We bear good fruit when we offer ourselves in
humble service, especially in the wonderful way that this parish feeds the
hungry and homeless on Thanksgiving Day.
In these
last two weeks of this Liturgical Year, the Lord is not trying to frighten us
into being good. Nor does he want us to
speculate when the end will come, either the end of our own lives or the end of
the world. Instead, he gives us a
foretaste of the heavenly mysteries at this Mass. He nourishes us to make sure that that we
sprout good leaves on our fig tree and produce good fruit. The Lord will come again at a time we cannot
predict. We can be a sign of that to
others in ways we cannot imagine. Even
when this current Liturgical Year will end with the Solemnity of Christ the
King next Sunday, a new year will begin on the First Sunday of Advent. As fig trees, we have no reason to worry or
be discouraged.
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