November 16, 2025
Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary
Time
Lectionary: 159
Reading
1
Lo, the day is
coming, blazing like an oven,
when all the proud and all evildoers will be stubble,
and the day that is coming will set them on fire,
leaving them neither root nor branch,
says the LORD of hosts.
But for you who fear my name, there will arise
the sun of justice with its healing rays.
Responsorial
Psalm
R. (cf.
9) The Lord comes to rule the earth with justice.
Sing praise to the LORD with the harp,
with the harp and melodious song.
With trumpets and the sound of the horn
sing joyfully before the King, the LORD.
R. The Lord comes to rule the earth with justice.
Let the sea and what fills it resound,
the world and those who dwell in it;
let the rivers clap their hands,
the mountains shout with them for joy.
R. The Lord comes to rule the earth with justice.
Before the LORD, for he comes,
for he comes to rule the earth,
he will rule the world with justice
and the peoples with equity.
R. The Lord comes to rule the earth with justice.
Reading
2
Brothers and
sisters:
You know how one must imitate us.
For we did not act in a disorderly way among you,
nor did we eat food received free from anyone.
On the contrary, in toil and drudgery, night and day
we worked, so as not to burden any of you.
Not that we do not have the right.
Rather, we wanted to present ourselves as a model for you,
so that you might imitate us.
In fact, when we were with you,
we instructed you that if anyone was unwilling to work,
neither should that one eat.
We hear that some are conducting themselves among you in a
disorderly way,
by not keeping busy but minding the business of others.
Such people we instruct and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to work quietly
and to eat their own food.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia,
alleluia.
Stand erect and raise your heads
because your redemption is at hand.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
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 on your head will be destroyed.
By your perseverance you will secure your lives."
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/111625.cfm
Commentary on
Malachi 3:19-20; 2 Thessalonians 3:7-12; Luke 21:5-19
We are coming very close to the end of the Church year. In
fact, next Sunday, when we will celebrate the feast of Christ the King, is also
the 34th and last Sunday of the liturgical year. So, as usual at this time, the
Church invites us to think about the final end of things. Our world, in which
we spend so much time planning and securing our worldly future, is only
temporary. Our own lives in this world will not last forever. The plans we make
must always be contingent and conditional and take our final destiny into
account.
In today’s passage from Luke’s Gospel we find Jesus in the
Temple at Jerusalem. It is quite near the end of his public life. Some of the
people around him—perhaps they were visitors from ‘out of town’ (or his
disciples, as Matthew and Mark suggest)—were awestruck by the beauty of the
stonework and the wealth of offerings being made by pilgrims.
The Temple was one of the most impressive buildings in the
world at that time. In fact, the huge structure was not yet quite completed
when Jesus was there. To most Jews, it was a place made to last forever (just
as we feel somehow that St Peter’s in Rome should last forever). It was, so to
speak, the ‘soul’ of the Jewish faith, the focal point for all Jews
everywhere—just as Rome is for Catholics. The comment of Jesus, referring to
the Temple, must have seemed appalling, if not actually blasphemous:
As for these things that you see, the days will come when
not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down.
End of the Temple
Jesus, of course, was absolutely right. As the result of a rebellion by the
Jews against the Romans, Jerusalem was besieged and the city and Temple utterly
destroyed. The Holy of Holies, a place so sacred that only the high priest
could enter it once a year, was ransacked and the sacred vessels carried off as
booty. Today, visitors to Rome can see the event depicted in sculpture on a
triumphal arch built by the Emperor Titus to commemorate his victories. All
that is left of King Herod’s mighty monument in Jerusalem today is the ‘Wailing
Wall’.
The unthinkable had happened. And for many Jews, including
Jews converted to Christianity, it must have seemed like the end of the world.
The early writings of the Christian Testament are very much concerned with what
they believed was the imminent end of the world and the return of Christ in
judgement. They were wrong, as we know, and even before the Christian Testament
was completed, its later books indicate that the end is not so soon. The
emphasis shifted from expectation of an early return of Jesus, to focusing on
how to fruitfully spend the time of waiting.
Share the load
This, it would seem, is partly the meaning of Paul’s exhortation in the Second
Reading today. The letters to the Thessalonians are among the earliest of the
New Testament writings, written in the year 50 AD, twenty years before the
destruction of the Temple. Luke’s Gospel, however, is believed to date from
about 85 AD, fifteen years after its destruction in the year 70 AD.
Paul, using his own example, urges everyone in the community
to work and pull their weight and not live “irresponsibly”, being a burden on
anyone:
…we did not eat anyone’s bread without paying for it, but
with toil and labor we worked night and day so that we might not burden any of
you.
All are to contribute to the life and sustenance of the
community. It seems there were some, who were so convinced that the end was
near, that they were just sitting and waiting for the Lord to come and were
even urging others to do the same. As Paul says of them, they were acting like:
…mere busybodies, not doing any work.
Such “doomsday” people are present in every generation.
Three kinds of phenomena
In the Gospel, Jesus lists three kinds of phenomena which might induce people
to believe that the end of all things was coming. He says:
Beware that you are not led astray…
Jesus warns us today, because:
…many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and, ‘The
time is near!’ Do not go after them.
These false messiahs and salvation-gurus have occurred even
in our own time. We need to heed Jesus’ advice and have nothing to do with such
people.
There will be, Jesus warns, many events which will seem like
the end, but they will not be:
When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be
terrified, for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow
immediately.
Jesus predicts wars between and within nations. As well, he
says:
…there will be great earthquakes and in various places
famines and plagues, and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from
heaven.
The last 100 years, not to mention the most recent decades,
have seen a horrifying abundance of such evils and catastrophes.
Finally, Jesus speaks of the special threats hanging over
his own followers:
But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and
persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will
be brought before kings and governors because of my name.
Many of the early Christians thought that persecution was
also a sign of the coming end of the world. Jesus, however, reminds us that it
is an integral part of the Church’s ongoing life. And so it has been.
Persecutions inevitable
There will always be people who hate the gospel message, who find it deeply
threatening. The Christian is called both to live and to proclaim a set of
values and a vision of life that challenges the accepted viewpoints and
lifestyles of most societies. If the Church stops experiencing persecution,
abuse and criticism, we may well ask how well we are living our Christian lives
and how faithful we are to the way of Jesus.
When the Church is attacked, even violently, it is not a
sign of the end of things. Nor is it necessarily a sign that the Church has
been moving in the wrong direction—often quite the contrary. Neither is it
something that we go out of our way either to avoid or to invite. It is not,
Jesus says, something to be anxious about. It is not what those against us may
do in the future that matters most, but what we are doing here and now to carry
out the mandate of Christ.
How to react?
How, then, should we react to today’s readings? On the one hand, we must listen
carefully to Jesus’ warnings. There will be an end to things, even those things
we feel must last forever. On the other hand, we are not to be panicked into
seeing the end even in major catastrophes. St Augustine, who lived in the sixth
century, thought that the collapse of the Roman Empire and its culture under
the hordes of ‘barbarians’ (today’s Germans, French and Scandinavians), who
poured down from the north, must be the end of everything. There are such
cataclysmic events in our own time. How wrong they were, and how wrong we are
to believe this!
As long as Christianity remains steadfast to its faith in
God, to seeking the truth, to human compassion and justice, it cannot
disappear. And it is to these things that we are to bear witness. We may have
to do so under painful experiences, when we are:
…betrayed even by parents and siblings, by relatives and
friends…[and when they] put some of you to death.
It requires a great inner strength, courage and conviction
to put truth, love, justice and solidarity with all above one’s own family and
friends and to suffer their betrayal. Yet, Jesus promises:
I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your
opponents will be able to withstand or contradict.
These words, echoed in the First Reading from Malachi, have
across time been proven true again and again.
Securing our future
However, for many of us, the problem is not anxiety about the end of our world,
but living as if there were an eternity of tomorrows. So many of us work so
hard to guarantee an ironclad security for ourselves and our families. People
are so focused on a future which they are assured they are going to enjoy. They
seem to believe that all they have to do is take the right steps, get the right
breaks and have enough money to guarantee the future is under their control.
The words of Jesus in today’s Gospel are pushed into the background (they are
so pessimistic!). In this thinking, living the Christian life means fitting the
Gospel into our chosen lifestyle and our chosen future.
That is as foolish as the man in Jesus’ parable who, having
got all his wealth together, says to himself:
Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax,
eat, drink, be merry. (Luke 12:19)
We know what happened to him. And it happens to people all
the time—and it will happen to us.
The end of the world that is our universe may be, from all
the evidence, far away. We may be fortunate to live in a society free from
wars, ethnic strife, famine and natural disasters, and free from religious
persecution or discrimination. Yet, there is another end we all have to face
and which is totally outside our control—the end of our bodily life here on
this earth.
Are we ready for that? There is only one effective way to
prepare: to live each day fully in the company of Jesus. We do not prepare for
the end by guaranteeing our future (we can’t), but by living fully with God and
for God at every moment of every day.
We can do this by:
- personal
prayer;
- absorbing
the message of the Gospel so much into our way of seeing life that it
permeates everything we say and do;
- becoming
‘other Christs’, by learning to find Jesus, to love and respond to
him in every person, in every place and in every experience of our daily
life.
Then, no matter when Jesus comes to take us away, we will be
more than ready. We will meet not as strangers, but as dear and intimate
friends who know each other well.
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Sunday,
November 16, 2025
The discourse of Jesus on the end
of time
Luke 21:5-19
Opening prayer
Lord, You who have made sky
and earth and sea, and everything in them; it is You who said through the Holy
Spirit and speaking through our ancestor David, Your servant:
Why this uproar among
the nations, this impotent muttering of the peoples? Kings of earth take up
position, princes plot together against the Lord and His Anointed”.
... Stretch out your hand
to heal and to work miracles and marvels through the name of Your holy servant
Jesus (Acts 4:24-25,30)”. Fill us with Your Spirit as You gave it to the Apostles
after this prayer, in the time of trial, so that we can also proclaim the Word
openly and give witness as prophets of hope.
1. Lectio
a) The context:
The passage concerns the beginning of
Jesus’ discourse on the end of the world. The passage Luke 21:5-36 is a whole
literary unit. Jesus is in Jerusalem, at the entrance to the temple, the
Passion is near. The Synoptic Gospels (also see Mt 24; Mk 13) have the so
called “eschatological” discourse precede the account of the Passion, Death and
Resurrection. These are events to be read in the light of the Passover. The
language is the “apocalyptic” one. Attention is not placed on each word, but on
the announcement of the total overturn. The community of Luke already knew
about the events concerning the destruction of Jerusalem. The Evangelist
universalizes the message and makes evident the intermediate time of the Church
waiting for the coming of the Lord in glory. Luke refers to the end of time
also in other parts (12:35-48;17: 20;18:18). b) A possible division of the text:
•
Luke 21:5-7: introduction.
•
Luke 21:8-9: initial warning.
•
Luke 21:10-11: the signs.
•
Luke 21:12-17: the disciples put to the
test.
•
Luke 21:18-19: protection and trust.
c) The text:
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 on your head
will be destroyed. By your perseverance you will secure your lives."
2. A moment of
prayerful silence
so that the Word of God may
penetrate and enlighten our life.
3. A few questions
•
Which sentiments prevail in me: anguish, fear,
trust, hope, doubt...?
•
Where is the Good News in this discourse?
•
Do we love what we expect and do we conform
ourselves to its demands?
•
How do I react to trials in my life of faith?
•
Can I make a connection with the present
historical events?
•
What place does Jesus have in history today?
4. Meditatio
a) A key for reading:
Let us not allow ourselves
to be attracted by the exterior upheavals, typical of the apocalyptic language,
but by the interior ones, which are necessary, which pre- announce and prepare
the encounter with the Lord. Even being aware that today also, in different
parts of the world, “apocalyptic” situations are being lived, it is possible to
make a personalized reading, not an evasive one, which shifts the attention to
personal responsibility. Luke, regarding the other Evangelists, underlines that
the end has not come, that it is necessary to live the waiting with commitment.
Let us open our eyes to the tragedies of our time, not to be prophets of
misfortune, but courageous prophets of a new order based on justice and peace. b) Comment:
[5]
“When some were talking about the temple
remarking how it was adorned with fine stonework and votive offerings”, He
said: Jesus was probably at the entrance to the temple, considering the
reference to the votive offerings. Luke does not specify who the listeners are.
It is directed to all. He universalizes the eschatological discourse. This
discourse can refer to the end of time, but also to our personal end, the
proper time of life. In common there is the definitive encounter with the Risen
Lord.
[6]
“All these things you are staring at now, the
time will come when not a single stone will be left on another; everything will
be destroyed”. Jesus introduces a language of misfortune (17:22; 19:43) and
repeats the admonitions of the prophets concerning the temple (Micah 3:12; Jer
7:1-15; 26:1-19). It is also a consideration on the fragility of every human
achievement, no matter how marvelous. The community of Luke already knew about
the destruction of Jerusalem (year 70). Let us consider our attitude towards
the things that end with time.
[7]
They asked Him: “Master, when will this happen,
then, and what sign will there be that it is about to take place?” The
listeners are interested in the external upheavals which characterize this
event. Jesus does not respond to this specific question. The “when” is not
placed by Luke in relation to the destruction of Jerusalem. He underlines that
the end “will not be immediately” (v. 9) and “that before all this...” (v. 12)
others things will happen. He questions us on the relation between the
historical events and the fulfillment of the history of salvation: the time of
man and the time of God.
[8]
He answered, “Take care not to be deceived,
because many will come using My name and saying: ‘I am the one’ and ‘the time
is near at hand’. Refuse to join them”. In regard to the other Evangelists,
Luke adds the reference to time. The community of the first Christians is
overcoming the phase of an immediate coming of the Lord and prepares itself for
the intermediate time of the Church. Jesus recommends that they not allow themselves
to be deceived, or better, to be seduced by impostors. There are two types of
false prophets: those who pretend to come in the name of Jesus saying “I am the
one” and those who affirm that the time is near at hand, that the day is
already known (10:11; 19:11).
[9]
“When you hear of wars and revolutions, do not
be terrified, for this is something that must happen first, but the end will
not come at once”. Even the war events, and today we would say, the terrorist
acts, are not the beginning of the end. All this happens but it is not a sign
of the end. Luke wants to warn them about the illusion of the imminent end of
time with the consequent disillusionment and abandonment of faith.
[10]
“Then He said to them, ‘Nation will fight
against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.
[11]
There will be great earthquakes and plagues and
famines in various places; there will be terrifying events and great signs from
heaven‘”. The words “and then He said” is a repetition of the discourse after
the initial warnings. This is fully apocalyptic language, which means
revelation (Isa 19:2; 2Cor 15:6) and at the same time concealment. Traditional
images are used to describe the rapid changes of history (Isa 24:19-20; Zech
14:4-5; Ezek 6:11-12, etc.). The imaginary catastrophe is like a curtain which
hides the beauty of the scene which is behind: the coming of the Lord in glory
(v. 27).
[12]
“But before all this happens, you will be seized
and persecuted; you will be handed over to the synagogues and to imprisonment,
and brought before kings and governors for the sake of My name.”
[13]
“and that will be your opportunity to bear
witness”. The Christian is called to conform himself to Christ. They have
persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. Luke recalls the scene of Paul
before King Agrippa and Governor Festo (Acts 25:23-26, 32). Behold the time of
trial. Not necessarily under the form of persecution. Saint Teresa of the Child
Jesus suffered the absence of God for eighteen months, when she discovered her
illness. A time of purification which prepares for the encounter. It is the
normal condition of the Christian, that of living in a healthy tension which is
not frustration. Christians are called to give witness to the hope which
animates them.
[14]
“Make up your minds not to prepare your defense;
[15]
because I Myself shall give you an eloquence and
a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to resist or contradict”. The
time has come to place our trust completely in God, God alone suffices. It is
that same wisdom with which Stephen confused his enemies (Acts 6:10). The
capacity to resist to persecution is guaranteed for the believer.
[16]
“You will be betrayed even by parents and
brothers, relatives and friends, and some of you will be put to death”.
[17]
“You will be hated universally on account of my
name. The radical following of Christ implies also the overcoming of blood
relations, those which we affectionately believe to be more secure. There is
the risk of remaining alone, like Jesus in His Passion.
[18]
“But not a hair of your head will be lost”. Luke
repeats the preceding verse (12:7) to remind us of the divine protection which
is assured at the moment of trial. The believer is also guaranteed the care of
his physical integrity.
[19]
“Your perseverance will win you your lives.”
Perseverance (cf. Acts 11:23; 13: 43; 14:22) is indispensable in order to bear
fruit (8:15), in the daily trials and in persecutions. It means the same as the
“remain in Christ” of John. The final victory is certain: the Kingdom of God
will be established by the Son of Man. Therefore, it is necessary to be
persevering, vigilant and in prayer (v. 36 and 12:35-38). The life-style of the
Christian has to be a sign of the future which will come.
Oratio: Psalm 98
Sing a new song to the Lord
Acclaim Yahweh, all
the earth, burst into shouts of joy! Play to Yahweh on the harp, to the sound
of instruments; to the sound of trumpet and horn, acclaim the presence of the
King. Let the sea thunder, and all that it holds, the world and all who live in
it.
Let the rivers clap their hands,
and the mountains shout for joy
together, at Yahweh's approach, for He is coming to judge the earth;
He will judge the world with saving justice and the nations
with fairness.
Contemplatio
Good God, whose Kingdom is all love and peace, You Yourself
create in our soul that silence that You need to communicate Yourself to it.
Peaceful acting, desiring without
passion, zeal without agitation: all that can only come from You, Eternal
Wisdom, Infinite activity, unalterable repose, principle and model of true
peace.
You have promised us by Your prophets
this peace. You have given it by Jesus Christ. You have given us the guarantee
with the effusion of Your Spirit.
Do not permit that the envy of the enemy, the anxiety of
passion, the scruples of conscience make us lose this heavenly gift, which is
the pledge of Your love, the object of Your promises, the reward of the blood
of Your Son. Amen. (Teresa of Avila, 38:9- 10).
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