THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS NEAR

November 26, Friday

THIRTY-FOURTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

In the famous chapter 7 of Daniel, a mysterious “Son of Man” (a human being) is announced. Is he an individual or a community? He belongs to both earth and heaven and will inaugurate a kingdom that comes as a gift from God, not as an earthly conquest. Jesus will apply this title to himself and purify it. The empires built on power and godlessness are ridiculed: they are statues with feet of clay, or like monstrous animals. God will judge them, so they will disappear.

The faithful should keep hope in patience: God’s kingdom is near. There are not only tensions and conflicts inside God’s people and from outside: there are also signs of hope, and we should see these signs.

 

First Reading: Daniel 7:2-14

“In my dream that night I saw the four winds of heaven whipping up a great storm on the sea. Four huge animals, each different from the others, ascended out of the sea.

“The first animal looked like a lion, but it had the wings of an eagle. While I watched, its wings were pulled off. It was then pulled erect so that it was standing on two feet like a man. Then a human heart was placed in it.

“Then I saw a second animal that looked like a bear. It lurched from side to side, holding three ribs in its jaws. It was told, ‘Attack! Devour! Fill your belly!’

“Next I saw another animal. This one looked like a panther. It had four birdlike wings on its back. This animal had four heads and was made to rule.

“After that, a fourth animal appeared in my dream. This one was a grisly horror—hideous. It had huge iron teeth. It crunched and swallowed its victims. Anything left over, it trampled into the ground. It was different from the other animals—this one was a real monster. It had ten horns. “As I was staring at the horns and trying to figure out what they meant, another horn sprouted up, a little horn. Three of the original horns were pulled out to make room for it. There were human eyes in this little horn, and a big mouth speaking arrogantly.

“As I was watching all this,

“Thrones were set in place
    and The Old One sat down.
His robes were white as snow,
    his hair was white like wool.
His throne was flaming with fire,
    its wheels blazing.
A river of fire
    poured out of the throne.
Thousands upon thousands served him,
    tens of thousands attended him.
The courtroom was called to order,
    and the books were opened.

“I kept watching. The little horn was speaking arrogantly. Then, as I watched, the monster was killed and its body cremated in a roaring fire. The other animals lived on for a limited time, but they didn’t really do anything, had no power to rule. My dream continued.

“I saw a human form, a son of man,
    arriving in a whirl of clouds.
He came to The Old One
    and was presented to him.
He was given power to rule—all the glory of royalty.
    Everyone—race, color, and creed—had to serve him.
His rule would be forever, never ending.
    His kingly rule would never be replaced.

 

Gospel: Luke 21:29-33

He told them a story. “Look at a fig tree. Any tree for that matter. When the leaves begin to show, one look tells you that summer is right around the corner. The same here—when you see these things happen, you know God’s kingdom is about here. Don’t brush this off: I’m not just saying this for some future generation, but for this one, too—these things will happen. Sky and earth will wear out; my words won’t wear out.

 

Prayer

God of the ages and of eternity,
you have entrusted to us, your people,
your project about people and the world.
Do not allow us to delay your plans
by our own limitations.
Make us aware that all we can do is
being a leaven, and a sign
that the seed you have sown will grow.
Keep us hoping in patience,
that integrity, love and justice
will come in your own good time
as a gift from you,
through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

 

Reflection:

Lord, let me die in peace and hope

The Gospel continues with the theme of the end of things: the end of the world and our own end. Jesus uses the common-man’s language to teach his disciples about the Kingdom of God. All his listeners know very well how does a fig tree changes according to the change of Seasons. The Lord invites them to pay attention to understand what is going on in the world and in history. Today, He wants us to understand “the meaning of what is happening around us”. It is in answering these questions that we come to perceive the signs of the times.

Everything will end, but God alone will remain. No one knows the exact time of one’s death. This is a tendency of the human mind – that we are so certain that we will die, but we live as if with a certainty that, “Not me, not immediately. I still have time!” We all have this weakness, this vulnerability. Pope Francis says, “the enemy, the spirit of the world, prevents us from preparing well for our death. This enemy would want to distract us from God and proposes to us a way of thinking which is according to our liking and conveniences. It does not want us to place ourselves before God and say: Lord, I am ready!

Therefore, it is necessary to prepare well for that moment when the bell will ring, the moment when the Lord will knock on our door. Explaining the passage, Pope Francis gives a piece of advice to faithful: “Be ready to open the door with trust and confidence to the Lord who comes. All the things that we have collected, that we have saved, even good – we will not bring anything. But, yes, we move into the embrace of the Lord.” He invites us to think of our own death: “I will die, but when? The Lord knows it. I pray to the Lord: ” Lord, prepare my heart to die well, to die in peace, to die with hope.” This is the word that must always accompany our lives, the hope of living with the Lord here and then living with the Lord for ever. Let us pray for one another for this grace of dying in the presence of God.

 

Video available on Youtube: Lord, let me die in peace and hope