The Thirty-Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time

predmore.blogspot.com

November 26, 2017

Ezekiel 34:11-12, 15-17; Psalm 23; 1 Corinthians 15:20-26, 28; Matthew 25:31-46

Last week, I walked with Boston-area pilgrims in Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Galilee. Everywhere we went we encountered pilgrims from all nations of the world streaming to be in the places where Our Lord and his family and friends lived. Each person wanted to touch the tombstone where he broke the bonds of death and the cave in which he was born. The whole experience was like a new Pentecost where all the world’s faithful ones spoke the same language of devotion, kindness, and love.

Each pilgrim brought a trail of stories to be offered to the Lord during masses and in private prayers at holy places. Each pilgrim prayed for loved ones, the sick and dying, the souls of the deceased, personal intentions, and pleas for justice and peace. Each pilgrim brought along with him or her the streams of loved ones in their universes, for no one ever stood alone. We stood together as brothers and sisters, as friends in the Lord.

This feast of Christ the King represents that the Lord is gathering everyone to himself. In Jerusalem, we pilgrims could see that he was gathering us up because all the nations of the world flocked to his holy mountain, the city of God’s peace. Jesus is not just collecting all the faithful people, he is collecting all our actions, good and bad, so he can judge our actions and motives at our death and at the end of the world.

This should not frighten us because we know Jesus to be one who judges with God’s mercy. He knows when we have loved and have not loved. He knows when we meant the best but it came out wrong. He knows when we needed to withdraw and give attention only to ourselves. Even when our actions might seem petty and selfish to us who are good and helpful people, he might see that it is in relation to someone who always demands attention and energy. He does not just judge our actions, but he knows our intentions, feelings, and motivations. Mostly dearly, his justice welcomes us into his embracing arms.

On this day, Jesus is calling everyone to himself – those who hear and obey, those who are troubled and afflicted, even though who are hard-hearted and profess not to believe in him. He does not care about categories. He is seeking out those who have left the church and left the faith and he will rescue them. Can a loving God forget them? He will give rest to the weary and to those with addictions and mental and physical afflictions. He will comfort our pain and bind up the injured. He is seeking, searching, longingly looking for anyone who needs tending and he will find them. Will Christ forget any of our loved ones. He will not. Whether we stand near the Temple in Jerusalem or in the back pew of our local church, the cries of our loved ones are heard by our God, and God will bless them and restore us to each other. Let us simply say “Thank you” to our God and King.

Scripture for Daily Mass

First Reading: 

Monday: (Daniel 1) When the king had spoken with all of them, none was found equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; and so they entered the king's service. In any question of wisdom or prudence which the king put to them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his kingdom.

Tuesday: (Daniel 2) This was the dream; the interpretation we shall also give in the king's presence. You, O king, are the king of kings; to you the God of heaven has given dominion and strength, power and glory; men, wild beasts, and birds of the air, wherever they may dwell, he has handed over to you, making you ruler over them all; you are the head of gold.

Wednesday: (Daniel 5) Suddenly, opposite the lampstand, the fingers of a human hand appeared, writing on the plaster of the wall in the king's palace. When the king saw the wrist and hand that wrote, his face blanched; his thoughts terrified him, his hip joints shook, and his knees knocked.

Thursday: (Romans 10) If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved.

Friday (Daniel 7) In a vision I, Daniel, saw during the night, the four winds of heaven stirred up the great sea, from which emerged four immense beasts, each different from the others.
The first was like a lion, but with eagle's wings.

Saturday (Daniel 7) Then the kingship and dominion and majesty of all the kingdoms under the heavens shall be given to the holy people of the Most High, Whose Kingdom shall be everlasting: all dominions shall serve and obey him.

Gospel: 

Monday: (Luke 21) When Jesus looked up he saw some wealthy people putting their offerings into the treasury and he noticed a poor widow putting in two small coins.
He said, "I tell you truly, this poor widow put in more than all the rest.

Tuesday: (Luke 21) 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."

Wednesday (Luke 21) 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.

Thursday (Matthew 4) "Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men." At once they left their nets and followed him. He walked along from there and saw two other brothers,
James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John.

Friday (Luke 21) Consider the fig tree and all the other trees. When their buds burst open,
you see for yourselves and know that summer is now near; in the same way, when you see these things happening, know that the Kingdom of God is near.

Saturday (Luke 21) Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life, and that day catch you by surprise like a trap.
For that day will assault everyone who lives on the face of the earth.

Saints of the Week

November 26: John Berchmans, S.J., religious (1599-1621), was a Jesuit scholastic who is the patron saint of altar servers. He was known for his pious adherence to the rules and for his obedience. He did well in studies, but was seized with a fever during his third year of philosophy and died at the age of 22.

November 29: Bernardo Francisco de Hoyos, S.J., religious (1711-1735) was the first and main apostle to the devotion of the Sacred Heart. He entered the novitiate in Spain at age 14 and took vows at 17. He had mystical visions of the Sacred Heart. He was ordained in January 1735 with a special dispensation because he was not old enough. A few weeks after celebrating his first mass, he contracted typhus and died on November 29^th.

November 30: Andrew, apostle (first century) was a disciple of John the Baptist and the brother of Simon Peter. Both were fishermen from Bethsaida. He became one of the first disciples of Jesus. Little is known of Andrew's preaching after the resurrection. Tradition places him in Greece while Scotland has incredible devotion to the apostle.  

December 1: Edmund Campion, S.J., (1540- 1581), Robert Southwell, S.J., (1561-1595) martyrs, were English natives and Jesuit priests at a time when Catholics were persecuted in the country. Both men acknowledge Queen Elizabeth as monarch, but they refused to renounce their Catholic faith. They are among the 40 martyrs of England and Wales. Campion was killed in 1581 and Southwell’s death was 1595.

This Week in Jesuit History

·      Nov 26, 1678: In London the arrest and imprisonment of St Claude la Colombiere. He was released after five weeks and banished.

·      Nov 27, 1680: In Rome the death of Fr. Athanasius Kircher, considered a universal genius, but especially knowledgeable in science and archeology.

·      Nov 28, 1759: Twenty Fathers and 192 Scholastics set sail from the Tagus for exile. Two were to die on the voyage to Genoa and Civita Vecchia.

·      Nov 29, 1773: The Jesuits of White Russia requested the Empress Catherine to allow the Letter of Suppression to be published, as it had been all over Europe. "She bade them lay aside their scruples, promising to obtain the Papal sanction for their remaining in status quo.

·      Nov 30, 1642: The birth of Br Andrea Pozzo at Trent, who was called to Rome in 1681 to paint the flat ceiling of the church of San Ignacio so that it would look as though there were a dome above. There had been a plan for a dome but there was not money to build it. His work is still on view.

·      Dec. 1, 1581: At Tyburn in London, Edmund Campion and Alexander Briant were martyred.

-->

·      Dec. 2, 1552: On the island of Sancian off the coast of China, Francis Xavier died.