(For the audio version of this blog, please visit: http://brothersinchristcmf.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Mass-Blog-for-the-33rd-Sunday-in-Ordinary-time-2021.mp3)
The closer technology gets to answering humanity’s hope for immortality, the further we get from the faith that offers it to us. Paradoxically, in the process, technology’s given us many more ways to destroy ourselves.
With all the unintended consequences human intelligence has unleashed, many fear the end is near. You’d think that would bring us closer to God, but according to a recent Gallup poll, faith—or at least, religious observation—is on the decline. Americans’ membership in houses of worship dropped below 50% for the first time in Gallup’s eight-decade trend. In 2020, 47% of Americans said they belonged to a church, synagogue or mosque, down from 50% in 2018 and 70% in 1999. As a result, thousands of places of worship are closing their doors for good. Or for bad.
Unfortunately, if that’s true, this Sunday’s Mass readings won’t be seen by the ones who need them most—those without faith OR hope. If they were, those souls might find inspiration in the first reading from Daniel (Dn 12:1-3). It invites us to apply our intelligence toward tapping an underutilized and abundant source of hope: wisdom.
“But the wise shall shine brightly like the splendor of the firmament, and those who lead the many to justice shall be like the stars forever.”
Such leaders have found strength in the gospels over the years, and that strength has helped them deliver the wisdom the people of this world need. Through Sunday’s reading from Mark’s gospel (Mk 13:24-32), Jesus has spoken to each succeeding generation about the need to separate from the seasonality of this world and to unite with the constancy of God’s word.
“Learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branch becomes tender and sprouts leaves, you know that summer is near. In the same way, when you see these things happening, know that he is near, at the gates. Amen, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.”
That Gallup study DID conclude with a bit of hope that a new generation of leaders will rediscover the wisdom of divine truth and be God’s word for this starving world. Majorities among the younger people polled told Gallup they were drawn to spiritual programs geared toward children and teenagers, and that these programs were leading them to community outreach and volunteer opportunities.
Our best hope is that God’s immortal words filtered through the Gospels will give new life to those wise enough to listen to them.
–Tom Andel
Sadly, it seems few People stop and ask the ultimate question. Why am I here? What is my purpose and why did God make me?
Saint Ignatius places a strong emphasis on consideration of our last days in Ignation spirituality. It forces us to ask, “and then what?”
One day we will all die. And then what?
Another important question worth asking about our presence on Earth is “So what?” People tend to save the “why am I here” question for the end of an earthly journey spent achieving happiness via the accumulation of wealth and status. That question about our purpose is too often inspired by the last-chapter realization that wealth and status didn’t bring a happy ending.
In his “Summa Theologica,” Thomas Aquinas puts our search for “the sovereign good” (God) above all material desires, because when we possess material goods, “we despise them, and seek others: which is the sense of our Lord’s words, ‘Whosoever drinketh of this water,’ by which temporal goods are signified, ‘shall thirst again.'”
“The reason is,” Aquinas adds, “we realize more their insufficiency when we possess them–showing they are imperfect, and that the sovereign good does not consist therein.”
So, humanity’s happiness tends to be created, while God’s happiness is His essence–“for He is happy not by acquisition or participation of something else, but by His Essence. Happiness is said to be the last end, in the same way as the attainment of the end is called the end.”
So when our life’s credits roll, will they conclude a story with a happy ending or will our lifelong joy of sharing pains, sorrows and hopes with others on our journey help put those loved ones on our path to achieving a New Beginning? That’s “So What!”
Tom,
Thank you for so faithfully guiding us to apply Gospel teachings to our lives, be inspired by them, and pursue God’s path for us to salvation.
Ron, I’m inspired by people like you who share their home with communities like Faith and Light to pray together for intentions great and small. This in-person fellowship helps make faith relevant to young people and brings them closer to Christ. Thank YOU!