The harsher the winter, the richer the fruits of the new season

THIRTY-THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – YEAR B

 

Scientific and technological progress is being made in the world, and sensitivity to higher values is growing. Still, the planetary injustices, wars, political, economic, and social upheavals are causing concern and dismay. Ideologies considered timeless collapse; certainties are lacking, political figures disappear from the scene, athletes and stars of the show fall into oblivion as soon as the spotlights and cameras that frame them are turned off. Everything is called into question. Even dogmas are re-read and re-interpreted; certain religious practices that seemed indispensable and irreplaceable turn out to be old and worn out; they have had their day and are abandoned.

Faced with these upheavals, some rebel, some resign, many are discouraged, and think that the end of everything has come, including faith. How should we evaluate these realities? How can we relate to the most alarming events? How should we allow ourselves to be involved in the history of the world: with anxiety and fear or with commitment and hope? The anguish, the pain, the groans of the dying man are a prelude to imminent death; the labor pains of a woman in labor announce the beginning of a new life.

Jesus indicated the proper perspective: “When all these things begin to happen, stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand” (Lk 21:28).

In a world that seems condemned to ruin by its delirium of violence, the non-believer lowers his gaze to the ground and despairs, convinced that the end is approaching; the disciple stands firm in the trial, raises his head, and in every cry of pain perceives the groaning of creation that “is groaning in labor pains” (Rom 8:22). In everything that happens, the believer perceives the prelude not of death but a happy event: the birth of a new humanity.

 

• To internalize the message, we will repeat:

“The fate of the world is in God’s hands, so I look up.”

 

First Reading: Daniel 12:1-3

Beginning in the second century B.C., a cultural movement called apocalypticism spread in Israel, characterized by an interest in world history and reflection on the fate of all empires. The apocalypticists cultivated the conviction that events would not turn for the better but the worse and that this world was destined, amidst terrible convulsions, to death and corruption. From its ashes, God would then raise a new world that would be the lot of the pious. A new era would begin, the golden age of Greek mythology, the period of peace, blessing, and prosperity, in a kingdom ruled directly by the Lord.

This announcement of joy and hope, which constitutes the central message of apocalyptic literature, is communicated by apocalyptic authors through an obscure and mysterious language in which everything has symbolic value: numbers, colors, beasts, types of clothing, body parts, and characters. Their revelations are transmitted through visions, allegories, and images that should never be taken literally (as Jehovah’s Witnesses do) but must be carefully decoded.

The use of this language had its climax at the time of Jesus, so it is not surprising that the Master also used it and that it is found in all the books of the New Testament, not only in the last one which bears the name of Apocalypse.

The book of Daniel, from which today’s passage is taken, is considered the first of the Apocalyptic books. It was written in a troubled time for Israel, that of the clash between Hellenistic culture, forcibly imposed by King Antiochus IV, and the traditions of the homeland, supported by the Maccabean movement. This struggle became the symbol of the duel between the forces of good and evil.

Like all apocalyptic writers, the author of the book of Daniel addresses to the persecuted and oppressed people an invitation to stand firm in the trial and announces a message of hope: the reign of evil has come to an end, the heavenly kingdom is about to rise.

The passage begins concerning the great anguish in which the people are struggling, aware that there has never been a more unhappy time (v. 1). Then there is the announcement of the intervention of the great prince, Michael (v. 1). It was believed that the Lord had his court in heaven made up of angels, called “sons of God”(Deut 32:8) or even the “army of heaven” (Deut 4:19). Each of them was entrusted with the task of protecting the people and ensuring justice.

Michael was the guardian angel of Israel and was the symbol of the forces of good that fight against those of evil. In the book of Daniel, he has already appeared as a defender of his people in a conflict with the guardian angel of Persia (Dan 10:21).

We are faced with images that need to be decoded to grasp their meaning. Michael means “Who is like God?” The answer is obvious: “No one!” There is no one else who can equal the Lord, God of Israel. In the Bible, we often hear the warning: “I am the Lord, outside of me there is no savior” (Is 43:11; Hos 13:4).

No one can lead to salvation, but God and Israel experienced this. Every time it abandoned the Lord and placed its trust in other gods, it invariably decreed its ruin, it was reduced to slavery, it was deported into exile, it had its land devastated. Only when Michael will have the upper hand in the world, that is, when people will repudiate all idols and convince themselves that no one is like God, will the new world arise.

With the eyes of the prophet, the seer of the book of Daniel scans the future and sees the advent of the new era, the one in which all the gods will be annihilated, and the power will be delivered to the true and only God, symbolized in the figure of Michael.

The celestial kingdom will appear, but an enigma remains unsolved: what will become of those who, in order not to betray their faith, were put to death by the persecutor? This is the question posed by the Israelites who suffered the harassment of Antiochus IV in the second century B.C.

 The seer replies: All the righteous who sleep in the dust of the earth will awaken and share in the joy of God’s kingdom (v. 2), and those who have proclaimed the truth and upheld justice will shine like the stars of heaven (v. 3). This is the first clear statement of the resurrection found in the Bible. No effort will be in vain; no tear, no pain, no sacrifice will be lost.

 

Second Reading: Hebrews 10:11-14

From the earliest times, sin has caused deep inner turmoil in people; the violation of moral norms has always been a cause of anguish and disquiet. Disease, misfortune, calamity, and death were attributed to the transgression of the provisions of the deity. To free oneself from the contamination of guilt, rituals were instituted, bathing in sacred rivers, sprinkling with water, or using animals’ blood.

Israel inherited many of these practices from the traditions of other peoples. In the temple, the priests continually offered sacrifices to God to atone for the people’s sins. But were they achieving their goal? No, today’s reading answers. Purification could not be completed because the blood of animals cannot make a person’s heart pure (v. 11). Only Christ’s sacrifice can produce this purification. Offered once and for all, it truly freed people from their sins (v. 12).

Faced with this clear statement, one wonders why sin continues to be present not only among the pagans but also among Christians? The author of the Letter to the Hebrews gives his answer: although the fate of all the enemies of good has already been sealed, they have not yet been entirely placed under the feet of Christ (v. 13); we must wait for his victory to be fully manifested.

However, those who are convinced that the death and resurrection of Christ have already defeated evil cannot be anxious, even if they are forced to admit that misery, wickedness, and sin continue to exist in the world. Those who panic in the face of an already defeated enemy demonstrate a very fragile faith (vv. 14.18).

 

Gospel: Mark 13:24-32

When Mark writes this page of his Gospel, the Roman empire is ravaged by wars, plagues, calamities, and famines. The Christian communities are affected by the persecution and, deeply disturbed, can no longer grasp the meaning of what is happening. The critical situation ignites the imagination of some fanatics who, referring to the announcement of the destruction of the temple of Jerusalem made by Jesus, spread forecasts of an imminent catastrophe, the end of all creation, and the return of Christ on the clouds of heaven.

The balance of the communities is shaken, and the evangelist feels he must intervene. To help Christians put the events in the proper perspective, he inserts in his book a chapter, the thirteenth (perhaps not initially planned). He relates the enlightening words of the Master to this apocalyptic theme.

First, he recalls the recommendation not to be deceived by the senseless speeches of those who preach the imminent end of the world: “See that no one deceives you. Many will come in my name saying, ‘I am he,’ and they will deceive many. When you hear of wars and reports of wars do not be alarmed; such things must happen, but it will not yet be the end. Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes from place to place and there will be famines. These are the beginnings of the labor pains” (Mk 13:5-8).

It will not be the end but the beginning of sorrows. What is to be expected: a further sharpening of the pain? A dramatic agony of the world, a prelude to the death of creation, or a new birth after the labor of childbirth? Mark responds to this question with the words of the Master referred to us in today’s Gospel.

The passage opens with images typical of apocalyptic literature: “The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken” (vv. 24-25).

All the peoples of the ancient Middle East considered the stars of the firmament as divinities; they believed that the events of the world depended on them and that they could help life or cause misfortune and calamity; for this reason, they offered them prayers and sacrifices. Moses had recommended to his people: “When you look up to the heavens and behold the sun or the moon or the stars, the whole heavenly host, do not be led astray into bowing down to them and serving them. These the Lord, your God, has apportioned to all the other nations under the heavens” (Deut 4:19).

The prophets had severely condemned the adoration of the stars, deceptive gods, idols that attracted people’s astonished gaze and made them bend their knees in worship. They had announced their extinction and assured their fall: “The stars of the heavens and their constellations will send forth no light; the sun will be dark at its rising and the moon will not give its light.” All the host of heaven shall rot; the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll. All their host shall wither away, as the leaf wilts on the vine, or as the fig withers on the tree” (Is 13,10; 34,4).

These were not omens of doom but oracles intended to instill joy and hope. Isaiah did not mean to affirm that cosmic forces would be upset but that the pagan world, represented by these stars, would be annihilated, and people would no longer be enslaved to idols. Jesus takes up these images not to frighten the disciples but to comfort them. The pestilence, famine, violence, and persecutions they must face are signs of a world still dominated by the evil one. Nevertheless, the end of this painful reality has already been decreed, and its decline has begun.

Immediately after the eclipse of these oppressing idols, behold, with the clouds of heaven and with great power and glory, the Son of Man appears to set up the kingdom (v. 26). Out of metaphor: every idol that collapses marks a retreat of the evil one and a step forward of the kingdom of God; every deceptive light that goes out is a victory of the human over the inhuman.

At this point, Jesus introduces a new apocalyptic image: the Son of Man “will send angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the end of the earth to the end of the sky” (v. 27). This seems to be the prelude to the scene of the final judgment described in Matthew’s Gospel. One remains almost breathless, waiting for Jesus to continue: “And the Son of Man will separate one from another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats…” (Mt 25:31-46).

The meaning of the image of the angels gathering the elect from the four winds is entirely different. It is not the announcement of a judgment; there is no mention of any punishment; the message is anything but threatening; it is the consoling response given by Mark to his communities that are going through a dramatic moment. They are persecuted and suffer harassment, many Christians are put to death, and unfortunately among them—and this is the most painful aspect of the story—there are also disagreements and divisions; there are even those who betray the brothers and sisters of faith, denounce them, and accuse them before the pagan courts. Long gone are the times when the disciples “were of one heart and one soul” (Acts 4:32); now they feel at the mercy of the forces of evil, like leaves tossed about by raging winds (Is 64:5), they are distraught and unable to react.

To these Christians tempted to drop their arms, Mark reminds them of the promise made by Jesus: The Son of Man will not allow them to be scattered; through his angels, he will gather them from the four winds—the symbol of the four cardinal points—then he will gather them from all over the earth.

The image is biblical; it already occurs in the mouth of Moses: “The Lord, your God, will restore your fortunes and will have compassion on you; he will again gather you from all the peoples where the Lord, your God, has scattered you. Though you may have been dispersed to the farthest corner of the heavens, even from there will the Lord, your God, gather you; even from there will he bring you back” (Deut 30:3-4).

The gathering of the disciples will not be with a view to a reckoning, but for salvation. Angels are to be identified by biblical references. The term ‘angel’ does not necessarily designate a spiritual being, as is generally imagined; it indicates any mediator of God’s salvation; it is applied in the Bible to anyone who becomes an instrument in the Lord’s hands on people’s behalf. Moses, who led Israel in the desert, is called an ‘angel’ (Ex 23:20,23); the Baptist is presented at the beginning of Mark’s Gospel as an ‘angel’ (Mk 1:2). Angels of the Lord are all those who cooperate with God’s plan.

The salvation of the brethren from defection from the faith and dispersion does not happen through a portentous intervention of the Lord but through the mediation of angels, the disciples. They, in the moment of trial, have been able to remain firm in the faith. They are the angels in charge of leading the brothers and sisters back to the church’s unity.

Therefore, the message is one of joy and hope: not even one of the elect will be forgotten, no one will be lost. The evocative image of the violent thunderstorm that frightens and scatters the chicks and of the hen who calls them back to herself and places them safely under her wings (Mt 23:37) is perhaps the best illustration of this message.

The second part of the passage (vv. 28-32) answers the question that arises spontaneously after hearing the consoling announcement that the reign of evil has come to an end and that the Son of Man will gather the elect into his kingdom: When will this happen?

Humanity is tired of suffering, bearing the abuse of power of the wicked, seeing that evil continues to rage in the world and every person. The answer is given with the image of the fig tree (v. 28), the last of the trees to put on leaves. When the leaves begin to sprout, the farmer feels that summer is approaching and rejoices, thinking of the abundant harvests.

Only the Father and no one else knows the day and hour when the kingdom of God will have its full completion (v. 32). However, there are obvious signs that the decisive moment is approaching. Christians cultivate the sensitivity and attentive gaze of the farmer who knows how to catch the signs of the new season in everything that happens.