{"id":3029,"date":"2019-11-17T11:55:33","date_gmt":"2019-11-17T16:55:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/?p=3029"},"modified":"2019-11-17T11:55:33","modified_gmt":"2019-11-17T16:55:33","slug":"33rd-sunday-in-ordinary-time-year-c-homily-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/33rd-sunday-in-ordinary-time-year-c-homily-2\/","title":{"rendered":"33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C – Homily"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

33<\/a>rd<\/a><\/sup> Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C<\/a>
Malachi 3:19-20a
Psalm 98:5-6, 7-8, 9 (see 9)
2 Thessalonians 3:7-12
Luke 21:5-19
November 17, 2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today we\ncelebrate the 33rd<\/sup> Sunday in Ordinary Time.  There are a total of 34 weeks in Ordinary\nTime (the remaining of the 52 weeks of the calendar are the seasons of Lent,\nEaster, Advent, and Christmas).  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, our\nliturgical year is coming to a close.  In\ntwo weeks we will begin a new church year with the 1st<\/sup> Sunday of\nAdvent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You may know\nthat our Sunday readings are on a three-year cycle.  In Year A, we read predominantly from\nMatthew\u2019s Gospel.  Year B we read from\nMark\u2019s Gospel and in Year C we read from Luke\u2019s Gospel.  John\u2019s Gospel comes up mostly during Lent and\nEaster each year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During\nOrdinary Time, we read the gospel in order. \nSince we are coming to a close of our liturgical year, we are reading\ntoday from near the end of Luke\u2019s Gospel.  Jesus knows his Passion is coming and seeks to\nprepare his disciples for what is to come. \nFor us, it symbolizes being ready for the Second Coming at the end of\nthe ages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus speaks\nin the context of the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem.  \u201cThey\nasked him, \u201cTeacher, when will this happen? \nAnd what sign will there be?<\/em>\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus tells\nthem there will be \u201cwars and\ninsurrections<\/em>\u201d.  In the last 2,000\nyears since Jesus walked on Earth, there have been a lot of wars.  Nations have risen against nations.  We have seen this multiple times in just the\nlast 100 years, let alone 2,000 years. \nThe same is true for \u201cearthquakes,\nfamines, and plagues<\/em>.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, the\nSecond Coming could come at any time. \nStill, we might wonder when. \nAfter all, we want to be ready, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But what\ndifference would it make if you knew the exact day of the Second Coming?  If we knew for a fact that it would be\ntomorrow, I\u2019m sure we would be in a hurry to repent and turn our hearts fully\nto God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the other\nhand, if we knew it won\u2019t happen for 50 years, what would you do?  Would you live 48 years doing whatever you\nwanted and then when the time comes close, repent and follow Jesus?  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is not\nwhat we are supposed to do.  We are to\nlive as good Catholics every<\/em><\/strong>day.  If we do that, we\ndon\u2019t have to worry about when the Second Coming will happen.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just this\npast week there was another school shooting in California.  Children killing children.  Is the violence we see in our world today a\nsign that the end is coming soon.  I don\u2019t\nknow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I believe\nsociety is on both a spiritual decline and moral decline.  If we try to stand up for what we believe in,\npeople may ridicule us but we shouldn\u2019t be surprised by that.  Jesus told us that \u201cthey will seize and persecute<\/em>\u201d us and that we \u201cwill be hated by all because\u201d <\/em>of his name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ridicule\nmight come from individuals.  It might\neven come from the government saying you can\u2019t talk about things we feel are\nwrong.  There are those in society and in\ngovernment who even want to force medical professionals to offer procedures\nlike abortion and operations to change a person\u2019s physical sex.  This is not God\u2019s plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whatever\nstruggles we face in our lives, as Jesus says, \u201cIt will lead to your giving testimony.<\/em>\u201d  We are not to cause fights but we give testimony\nto what<\/em><\/strong>\nand how\nmuch<\/em><\/strong> our faith means to us in the way we respond to our struggles.  Sometimes God uses our struggles to help us\nturn our lives to him.  God can change\nsuffering into opportunity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As to our \u201cgiving testimony<\/em>\u201d, it might begin with\nsomething as simple as wearing a Cross or another religious symbol (scapular,\nsaint medal, etc.) as a sign that we believe in Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How about a\nprinted t-shirt or a sweatshirt with a Christian message on it?  It might take some courage but it is a good\nthing to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It may not be\neasy but \u201cgiving testimony<\/em>\u201d is what\nthe saints and martyrs have been doing for centuries.  Paul speaks of how he wanted to present\nhimself as a model for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you have\nsomeone in your family who is a model of faith for you?  You know, the person who always goes to\nchurch.  The one you ask to pray for you.  Do you try to imitate them?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, who are\nyou a model for?  Your children?  Co-workers? \nNeighbors?  Are you a good\nmodel?  Someone has to be the first to do\ngood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

None of us is\nperfect.  That\u2019s why Jesus came to die\nfor us.  Being a good Christian isn\u2019t\nalways easy.  We are never ready on our\nown.  We can\u2019t save ourselves but Jesus\ncan and does.  May we have the grace we\nneed to follow Jesus and to be an example to others.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year CMalachi 3:19-20aPsalm 98:5-6, 7-8, 9 (see 9)2 Thessalonians 3:7-12Luke 21:5-19November 17, 2019 Today we celebrate the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time.  There are a total of 34 weeks in Ordinary Time (the remaining of the 52 weeks of the calendar are the seasons of Lent, Easter, Advent, and Christmas).  …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C – 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":[661,205,149],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pMTPk-MR","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3029"}],"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=3029"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3029\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3030,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3029\/revisions\/3030"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3029"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3029"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3029"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}