"Learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branch becomes tender and sprouts leaves, you know that summer is near..(gospel) Joaquin Sorolla, 1863-1923, Fig tree November 18 th, 2012 33 rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
First Reading: Daniel 12:1-3 12 At that time Michael, the great prince, the protector of your people, shall arise. There shall be a time of anguish, such as has never occurred since nations first came into existence. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone who is found written in the book. 2 Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. 3 Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever. Responsive Psalm 16:5-11 Lector: 5 The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; All: you hold my lot. Lector: 6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; All: I have a goodly heritage. Lector: 7 I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; All: in the night also my heart instructs me. Lector: 8 I keep the Lord always before me; All: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Lector: 9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices; All: my body also rests secure. Lector: 10 For you do not give me up to Sheol, All: or let your faithful one see the Pit. Lector: 11 You show me the path of life. All: In your presence there is fullness of joy; in your right hand are pleasures for evermore. Second Reading: Hebrews 10:11-18 11 And every priest stands day after day at his service, offering again and again the same sacrifices that can never take away sins. 12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 and since then has been waiting until his enemies would be made a footstool for his feet. 14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. 15 And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying, 16 This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds, 17 he also adds, I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more. 18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.
Gospel Reading: Mark 13:24-32 24 But in those days, after that suffering, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, 25 and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. 26 Then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27 Then he will send out the angels, and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven. 28 From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. 29 So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. 30 Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. 31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. 32 But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Homily 1 What shall we learn from the new tender green leaves of the fig tree when summer is near? This is such a pleasant image contrasted with the other readings. In Daniel, we hear of anguish bringing some to shame and everlasting contempt. In the Gospel, great suffering seems to be predicted, where the sun will be darkened and stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. We stand between the crisis of change where we cannot understand what is happening to us and the fresh growth and openness to new opportunity. It is important to recognize the genre of a biblical book s message if one really wants to understand what is taking place. Some fundamentalists interpret the apocalyptic genre as prediction of things to come. But in reality this genre developed to help the listeners and readers deal with events that had already taken place, particularly periods of persecution. The authors predict things that have already taken place and typically they are written long afterward. Hebrew Testament apocalyptic authors speak about the past and the future in symbolic terms. They did not want to instill false hope but their message is that it is passing although things may turn worse before there is relief. It was uncommon for Christian writers to employ apocalyptic imagery, but we do find some apocalyptic parts in the three synoptic gospels. The darkened sun and stars falling was typical imagery associated with all apocalyptic literature. 1 I am indebted to Father Roger Karban, priest at Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish in Renault, Illinois for some of the ideas in this homily. Op cit in National Catholic Reporter, Friday, November 9 th, 2012.
The passage in Mark seem to have spring from distress but not necessarily religious persecution. What was transpiring at this stage in the Christian community was a growing awareness that Jesus was not going to return immediately. In Paul s earliest writings, which are the earliest Christian documents, he clearly expected a quick return where believers would still be living at the Parousia [second coming of Christ]. Paul advised them that if they were not married, they should not get married and basically to wait for Christ s coming. Some who realized he was not coming back abandoned their faith. We can see that Mark thought it would be soon, and he encouraged his listeners to hold on, even though they didn t understand the reasons for Jesus delay. We are all familiar with the Book of Revelation which addresses expectations regarding Jesus return. But there is an interesting difference between Mark and Revelation. While Mark thought there would be some kind of tribulation period before He returned, he did not teach any retribution or revenge coming. But the writer of Revelation seemed to regard God and Jesus as taking some kind of revenge on those who persecuted the church. Likewise, in Hebrews, written by an anonymous author, some of the same imagery of ultimate subjugation was employed. But unlike Revelation, Mark s writer did not see a delay in the triumphant return of Christ as meaning that transformation of the world had to be put off: through his death and resurrection he is already transforming the world. Mark also believed that the Risen Christ was already in our midst and that any intervening disturbing events would not affect the Parousia because Christ is already in our midst and available to us here and now. There have been many events that have intervened and sometimes brought seeming catastrophes or discouraging or confusing events that seem to impede the church in going forward and accomplishing its mission. We see that among our Roman Catholic friends that the Second Vatican Council brought many unexpected insights that seemed to herald a giant step forward in church reforms. Yet it has been fifty years and many or most of the recommendations have been officially resisted, delayed or trashed. But it ain t over it ain t over! The scriptures do not predict future events although they clearly understand human nature and how we ourselves undermine Christ s mission and fail to move forward. Our ancestors in the faith had to readjust to immediate versus delayed expectations. Often there are unexpected events that intervene and we are unable to tease out cause and effect. We are called to realize what are the essentials of our faith and not get bogged down with things that we can t figure out. Jesus is here among us. He brings transformation to us as we follow in his path. Fr. Ed Hays said that Jesus first followers imitated him long before they worshiped him. They didn t create dogmas and doctrines. They really believed they were called to carry on his work, his ministries, and his priorities and values. Jesus used the term the kingdom of God and we mistakenly think this refers to some pie in the sky but actually it refers to the kingdom of God that is happening right here and now if we repent and choose his value system of what is important. The center of his message is making our relationship with God and with one another the central focus in our lives and everything
else is lower down on the list. The Gospels, the Epistles, and Revelation, if taken as a whole, tell us that Jesus came for us to form a kingdom that does not depend on acquisition of power or goods for ourselves. But he came to transform men and women into awareness of the power he has already given them, and their innate dignity which was given from conception. As we imitate Jesus in his constant giving of himself for others, we are creating his kingdom here on earth. Shame, confusion, darkness are inevitable in our lives. We will all go through these periods. Richard Rohr has written that unless we go through failure, we will not find a viable spiritual path. Such a crisis is not a time to abandon our faith. Remember that the word believe is better translated as trust so we are called upon to trust how God is teaching us in every event. It is not our dogmas that will save us. It is relationship with Jesus, allowing the Holy Spirit to teach us, and learning how to love and serve as Jesus has shown us. No matter our age or stage in our lives, let us turn to the tender young leaves and realize that the season of growth is here if we will only attend to our opportunities. Look up to the splendid universe, light years away from dimness of our earth. The wise are shining like these stars giving points of light, showing the way. How did they get there? How did they attain such heights? By offering a cup of water, or their house or food or anything they could find. They gave away their time, their money and their lives, and never counted the cost. They used every gift they had and also some they hadn t, and spent a lifetime teaching others how to use what is given.
Lord, let these stars guide us. Those priests in ancient times daily repeated the same sacrifices, again and again and did not one thing to destroy sin. O Jesus, just that one time you offered perfect sacrifice. The fight fought, the battle won, sure redemption was ours, free for the taking. It was then, is now, and will be through all ages. We thank you, Lord, for loving us so well, for giving us your forgiveness. We love you, Lord. Our cars will rust and fall apart, condos crumble to the ground, and even our football teams will eternally lose. Everything will go: investments, worries, honors, pains. Yet, My words will not pass away, you say to us.
Jesus, please fill us with your words which will never pass away. You are love and love remains. Amen. Prayers only. Copyright 2012, Anne M. Osdieck. All rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted to reproduce for personal or parish use. Book Reviews: As always, I have several books in the fire, my kindle making it easy to juggle back and forth. I have been reading several things that attempt to tie the Hebrew/Jewish tradition and the Christian traditions in reading scripture. There are a number of books that have come out where Jewish scholars have published volumes accessible to laymen. And there are others where Jewish and Christian scholars have joined together. We have reviewed some of these in previous weeks but I have a new batch now; at least they are new to me. They are not necessarily quick or easy reading but they don t require reading Hebrew or Greek so the dedicated lay reader can get through them. There were a lot of surprises for me. We tend to assume that because we share the Hebrew scriptures that they have been read in similar ways, but this is not true. Looking at how Jews read the Hebrew Bible is an enriching experience. Barry W. Holtz [Editor] (2006). Back to the Sources: Reading the Classic Jewish Texts. NY: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks. Also available in kindle. This book is useful for those of us who have only a vague understanding of how the Jewish tradition developed from the time of the Hebrew texts which are termed the Hebrew Bible, and the Talmud which developed to interpret scripture, the idea of midrash, and how all the Jewish commentaries developed and even those from medieval times remain a living part of their tradition. Jon D. Levenson (2012). Inheriting Abraham: The Legacy of the Patriarch of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. NJ: Princeton University Press. This is a really surprising book to me. The author asks the question as to whether there is one Abraham or three. Jews are contrasted with their notion of being chosen while Levenson sees Christians as reinterpreting Abraham as preceding progressive and universal election. But h sees the true marker of monotheism is not the uniqueness of God alone Rather, it lies in the desire of the unique God to summon from out of the human mass a unique community established in his name and the desire of that community to serve God in love and obedience by responding to his call. [Martin S.
Jafee, op.cit.] But he goes on to spell out what are marked differences between the three traditions in how this achieved. Marc Zvi Brettler, Peter Enns, & Daniel J. Harrington, SJ (2012). The Bible and the Believer: How to Read the Bible Critically and Religiously. NY: Oxford University Press. This book involves three prominent scholars, one from the Jewish tradition, one from Roman Catholic tradition, and one from protestant/reformed tradition who each address how their tradition treats the Hebrew Bible (which all three share in common). And they talk to each other in this book, looking at what they have in common (not in doctrine, but in approaches to reading, the interpretative process in critical reading and in reading as a form of meditation and prayer) and how they differ. It is very helpful and fascinating.