Homily for Sunday Ordinary 33 C

Jesus, and the crowd around him, are standing in front of the Temple, but they are not seeing the same thing. The crowd are marveling at the costly stones, while Jesus sees that not one stone will be left upon another stone.

This weekend at all the Masses, Archbishop Weisenburger is announcing the start of a multi-year reorganization process in the Archdiocese of Detroit. 

I have Mass on Sunday, November 16 at St. Isidore @ 7:30 am. live stream link:  https://vimeo.com/1135452720?fl=pl&fe=vl

I have Mass at St. Andrew @ 5:00 pm.

frjoedailey@gmail.com

Transcript

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke. 

"While some people were speaking about how the temple was adorned with costly stones and votive offerings, Jesus said, 'All that you see here, the days will come when there will not be left a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down.' Then they asked him, 'Teacher, when will this happen, and what sign will there be when all these things are about to happen?' 

He answered, 'See that you not be deceived, for many will come in my name, saying, 'I am he,' and the time has come. Do not follow them. When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified, for such things must happen first, but it will not immediately be the end.' Then he said to them, 'Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be powerful earthquakes, famines, and plagues from place to place, and awesome sights and mighty signs will come from the sky.' 

Before all this happens, however, they will seize and persecute you, they will hand you over to the synagogues and to prisons, and they will have you led before kings and governors because of my name. It will lead to your giving testimony. Remember, you are not to prepare your defense beforehand, for I myself shall give you a wisdom in speaking that all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute. You will even be handed over by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends, and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name, but not a hair of your head will be destroyed. By your perseverance, you will secure your lives. 

The Gospel of the Lord 

Jesus and the crowd around him are standing in front of the temple, but they are not seeing the same thing. The crowd are marveling at the costly stones while Jesus sees that not one stone will be left upon another stone. By the time Luke's Gospel was written, the temple had already been destroyed. All the temples we build, no matter how sacred, will not last. 

When you are told that you no longer have a job, when you file for divorce, when you receive a negative medical diagnosis, when the person you love dies, when your parish church is merged or closed, one world ends and a new one begins. 

The first time the temple was destroyed in the year 587 before the common era, many Judeans were exiled to Babylon. In exile, they came to recognize that God had not been defeated. In fact, God was the author of these events and could be worshipped apart from native land, temple, priest, or monarch. Most of what we call the Old Testament was written, compiled, or edited in Babylon. The Catholic biblical scholar, Father Raymond Brown, said, "Israel learned more about God in the ashes of the temple destroyed by the Babylonians than in the elegant period of the temple under Solomon." 

The second temple was destroyed around the year 70 of the common era. "On the very threshold of its history," writes the Czech priest, Tomáš Halík, "the early church of Jews and pagans, experienced the destruction of the temple in which Jesus prayed and taught his disciples. The Jews of those days found a courageous and creative solution. They replaced the altar of the demolished temple with the Jewish family table and the practice of sacrifice with the practice of private and communal prayer. They replaced burnt offerings and blood sacrifices with reflection, praise, and study of scripture. On the ruins of traditions, Jews and Christians learned anew to read the law and the prophets and interpret them afresh." Tomáš Halík asks, "Are we not in a similar situation in our days?" 

During the COVID pandemic, when our churches were closed, we found ways to be church even when we could not gather in person. Many parishes live-streamed the Mass, which continues today. I was part of a faith-sharing scripture group that continued to meet via Zoom. 

Jesus is teaching us how to live in the midst of collapse. Do not be terrified. Fear shuts us down. By your perseverance, you will secure your lives. Perseverance means our ability to hold on, to trust in God's care. We cannot always rebuild the good things in our life that are destroyed, but we can continue to live. 

Let's contemplate this in the light of the Gospel. Each day is the last. Each time is the end time. Each human being faces the end of the world in the span of a life, whether it reach eight minutes or eighty years. The world, its opportunities and losses, passes away for us each night. Every sunset announces a closing of a day that will never come again. Each human death is the curtain on an unrepeatable drama which, without God, amounts to a tragedy. Every generation in some way is the last, and each generation, like each death and every day, witnesses the signs of the end times. 

In 1979, at a Mass for deceased priests in the Archdiocese of Detroit, Cardinal Dearden spoke these words written by then Father, later Bishop, Ken Untener. 

"This is what we are about. We plant the seeds that one day will grow. We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise. We lay foundations that will need further development. We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities. It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord's grace to enter and do the rest. We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker. We are workers, not master builders, ministers, not messiahs. We are prophets of a future not our own."