{"id":2696,"date":"2018-11-18T12:37:39","date_gmt":"2018-11-18T17:37:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/?p=2696"},"modified":"2018-11-18T12:59:42","modified_gmt":"2018-11-18T17:59:42","slug":"33rd-sunday-in-ordinary-time-year-b-homily-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/33rd-sunday-in-ordinary-time-year-b-homily-2\/","title":{"rendered":"33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B – Homily"},"content":{"rendered":"

33rd<\/sup> Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B<\/a>
\nDaniel 12:1-3
\nPsalm 16:5, 8, 9-10, 11 (1)
\nHebrews 10:11-14, 18
\nMark 13:24-32
\nNovember 18, 2018<\/p>\n

In two weeks, we will begin a new liturgical year in the church on the First Sunday of Advent but first we draw our current year to an \u201cend<\/em><\/strong>.\u201d\u00a0 With that in mind our readings shift to images of the Second Coming, the end of the ages.<\/p>\n

We hear Jesus speak of those days when \u201cthe sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light<\/em>\u201d and how we \u201cwill see the \u2018Son of Man coming in the clouds.<\/em>\u2019\u201d\u00a0 In those days, the angels will gather up the elect.\u00a0 Are you ready?<\/p>\n

Scripture tells us that there will be earthquakes, famines, and wars before the Second Coming.\u00a0 All these have happened.\u00a0 In the first reading, Daniel speaks of \u201ca time unsurpassed in distress<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 Is this what we see in our world today, shootings, clergy abuse scandal, famine, terrible divisions in the Middle east, and ideological rifts?<\/p>\n

There is much evil in the world today.\u00a0 That\u2019s why we are now saying the St. Michael prayer at the end of Mass.\u00a0 We are not the only parish in our diocese doing it.\u00a0 In fact, there are whole dioceses in our nation bringing back the custom of saying the St. Michael prayer together.\u00a0 We need help against evil.<\/p>\n

When the Second Coming happens, \u201csome shall live forever, others shall be an everlasting horror and disgrace.<\/em>\u201d\u00a0 Where will you spend eternity?\u00a0\u00a0 Heaven or Hell?<\/p>\n

When will the Second Coming happen?\u00a0 Jesus provides an answer when he says, \u201cBut of that day or hour, no one knows<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 It might be tomorrow.\u00a0 It might not be for thousand years or more.<\/p>\n

If it is tomorrow, or whenever it is, will you be ready?\u00a0 Of course, even if it doesn\u2019t happen for a thousand years, we will each face our individual death before then.<\/p>\n

Death is not something we like to talk about.\u00a0 Sometimes it is because we fear where we will spend eternity.\u00a0 Other times, we don\u2019t like to talk about death because we see it as a loss of a loved one.\u00a0 Our church rituals for a death are designed to bring us comfort by reminding us of eternal life.<\/p>\n

Sometimes we think the funeral ritual is all about celebrating the life of the person in this world.\u00a0 As such, funeral rituals include a time of sharing memories about the person.\u00a0 We need to share the good memories.<\/p>\n

However, as Catholics, the funeral Mass is not centered solely on remembering the person.\u00a0 Certainly, this is important, but the funeral Mass is to offer the sacrifice of the Mass for our deceased loved one\u2019s welcoming into Heaven.\u00a0 We believe in faith that sins are forgiving in this world when we confess them in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.\u00a0 Yet, we still need to be cleansed of the effects of our sins.\u00a0 The \u201cplace\u201d for that is Purgatory.<\/p>\n

Purgatory is a good thing.\u00a0 It is where God \u201crefines\u201d us to make it possible for us to enter Heaven.\u00a0 We offer the sacrifice in the funeral Mass for our deceased loved one\u2019s time in Purgatory to be swift.<\/p>\n

The same is true for our tradition of having Masses said for people who have died.\u00a0 Offering the Mass intention is not simply a way to honor them.\u00a0 It is to pray for their time in Purgatory purifies them so they can be welcomed into the Kingdom of Heaven.<\/p>\n

Traditionally, our Catholic funeral rites happen in three parts.\u00a0 First come the calling hours.\u00a0 Then, comes the funeral Mass followed by the burial rite.<\/p>\n

The calling hours are often seen as a time of saying goodbye, offering our condolences, and sharing memories.\u00a0 This is an important is an important part of the grieving process.\u00a0 We can begin the calling hours with prayer.\u00a0 Here, I think of the line in the Beatitudes, \u201cblessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 In expressing our sympathy, we offer the family comfort.<\/p>\n

Next comes the funeral Mass.\u00a0 As I alluded to before, this is not just a time of remembering our loved one.\u00a0 It is a time to prayer for their welcoming into God\u2019s kingdom.\u00a0 The sacrifice we offer at the funeral Mass is the sacrifice of Jesus giving his life on the Cross so that our sins are forgiven.\u00a0 Otherwise, Heaven is not possible for us.\u00a0 Thus, the funeral Mass is about the hope we have of eternal life.\u00a0 Life is not ended in eternal life but it is changed.<\/p>\n

Then comes the burial.\u00a0 You may have noticed that at the end of a funeral Mass, there is no blessing.\u00a0 That\u2019s because our prayers and rituals have not ended.\u00a0 The burial, where we lay our loved one to their place of rest, is seen as an integral part of our funeral rites.\u00a0 In taking our loved one to their grave, we are handing them over to God our Father while giving their earthly body a place of dignified rest.<\/p>\n

Our Catholic faith used to forbid cremation.\u00a0 This is because in cultures where cremation has been the normal custom, their beliefs around cremation rejected any idea of \u201cresurrection.\u201d\u00a0 Now, many people choose cremation for simple space reasons.\u00a0 Realizing this, our Catholic Church now allows cremation.<\/p>\n

However, our faith still calls us to give the cremains a dignified place of burial just as we do for the body where the ashes are kept together.\u00a0 By together, we should not divide them.\u00a0 The ashes are what remains of our loved one.\u00a0 We would not separate the parts of their body out of respect.\u00a0 We are called to do the same with ashes.<\/p>\n

I hope what I have said today helps you have a deeper appreciation of why our funeral rites are the way they are.\u00a0 Death is not an easy thing to talk about but if we reflect on it, we can share with our family what it is we want at the time of our death and share that with our family so they know and are not burdened with trying to guess what their wishes are.\u00a0 Also, by understanding our funeral rites a little better, we might be better aware of God\u2019s presence with us when that moment comes.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B Daniel 12:1-3 Psalm 16:5, 8, 9-10, 11 (1) Hebrews 10:11-14, 18 Mark 13:24-32 November 18, 2018 In two weeks, we will begin a new liturgical year in the church on the First Sunday of Advent but first we draw our current year to an \u201cend.\u201d\u00a0 With that in …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B – Homily’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[82],"tags":[517,367,365,149],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pMTPk-Hu","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2696"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2696"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2696\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2700,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2696\/revisions\/2700"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}