Image: The Christ Pantocrator of Saint Catherine’s Monastery at Mount Sinai, 6th century AD
Pope Francis’ Previous Homilies for 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sunday Gospel (Mark 13:24-32)
Jesus said to his disciples: ‘In those days, after the time of distress, the sun will be darkened, the moon will lose its brightness, the stars will come falling from heaven and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory; then too he will send the angels to gather his chosen from the four winds, from the ends of the world to the ends of heaven.
‘Take the fig tree as a parable: as soon as its twigs grow supple and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. So with you when you see these things happening: know that he is near, at the very gates. I tell you solemnly, before this generation has passed away all these things will have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
‘But as for that day or hour, nobody knows it, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son; no one but the Father.’
Pope Francis Previous Homily 2021
Dear brothers and sisters,
The Gospel passage of today’s liturgy begins with a statement by Jesus that leaves us astonished: “The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven” (Mk 13:24-25).
But what now, was the Lord a doomsdayer? No, this is certainly not His intention.
He wants us to understand that sooner or later everything in this world will pass away.
Even the sun, the moon and the stars that make up the “firmament” – (a word that means “firmness”, “stability”) – are destined to pass away.
In the end, however, Jesus says what will not fall: “Heaven and earth will pass away”, He says, “but my words will not pass away” (v. 31). The Lord’s words will not pass away. He makes a distinction between the penultimate things, that will pass, and the ultimate things, that will remain.
It is a message for us, to guide us in our important decisions in life, to guide us in what is appropriate to invest our lives in.
In something transitory, or in the words of the Lord which remain forever? Obviously on the latter.
But it is not easy. Indeed, we are attracted by the things that come before our senses and give us immediate satisfaction, while the words of the Lord, though beautiful, go beyond the immediate and require patience.
We are tempted to cling to what we can see and touch, to what seems more secure.
That is human, that is temptation.
But it is a deception, for “heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away”. So here is the invitation: do not build your life on sand.
According to Jesus, the faithful disciple is the one who builds his life on the rock that is his word (cf. Mt 7:24-27 – “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house upon the rock; 25 and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26
And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house upon the sand; 27 and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell; and great was the fall of it.”), which does not pass away, on the solidity of the word of Jesus: this is the foundation of the life that Jesus wants us to have and which will not pass away.
And now the question – always, when we read the Word of God, we ask questions – what is the centre, what is the beating heart of the Word of God? In short, what is it that gives solidity to life, and will never cease?
Saint Paul tells us. The very centre, the beating heart, that which gives solidity, is love: “Love never ends” (1 Cor 13:8), says Saint Paul: love. Those who do good, are investing in eternity. When we see a person who is generous and helpful, gentle, patient, not envious, not gossipy, not boastful, not puffed up with pride, not lacking in respect (cf. 1 Cor 13:4-7 –4 Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; 5 it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.).
This is a person who is building heaven on earth. They may not be noticed, they may not have a career, they may not make the news, and yet what they do will not be lost, because good is never lost, good lasts forever.
And we, brothers and sisters, let us ask ourselves: what are we investing our lives in? On things that pass, such as money, success, appearance, physical well-being? We will not take any of these things with us. Are we attached to earthly things as if we are going to live here forever? When we are young and healthy, everything is fine, but when the time comes to leave, we have to leave everything behind..
The Word of God has a message for us today: “This world will pass away. `but only love will remain.
When we base our lives on the Word of God, we’re not running away from history. We’re embracing it! We’re immersing ourselves in earthly realities to make them stronger, to transform them with love, to imprint on them the sign of eternity, the sign of God. I am going to give you some advice on how to make important choice. When I don’t know what to do, how to make a definitive choice, an important choice, a choice that involves the love of Jesus, what should we do? Before we decide, imagine that we are standing before Jesus, as at the end of life, before Him who is love. And imagining ourselves in His presence, on the threshold of eternity, we make the decision for today. We must decide in this way: always looking to eternity, looking at Jesus. It might not be the easiest or the most immediate, but I promise you it will be the right one.
May Our Lady help us to make the important choices in life as she did: according to love, according to God.