Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
† Sunday 19th November 2000

Cycle of Prayer: Prisoners and their families

Theme: Our hope is in the Lord

A reading from the Prophet Daniel 12 : 1 - 3
This text is remarkable as it is one of the earliest and clearest expressions of the belief in the resurrection of the dead and eternal life. This era at the end of time will be preceded by “a time of great distress,” but the prophet encourages the people, “all those whose names are found written in the Book...many will awake...to everlasting life.”

A reading from the Letter to the Hebrews 10 : 11 - 14, 18
The author pursues the comparison between the Old Testament priesthood and the greater, more perfect Priesthood of Christ. By making reference to the “priests standing at their duties every day, offering over and over again the same sacrifices which are quite incapable of taking sins away,” and by then, immediately speaking of Christ as having, “offered one single sacrifice for sins, and then taken his place at the right hand of God,” the writer of this Letter to the Hebrews, may wish to show that Christ the Eternal Priest, now seated at the right hand of God’s throne, has completed the task of atonement once and for all.

The Gospel according to Mark 13 : 24 - 32
As the gospel of Mark brings us to the end of Jesus’ journey at Jerusalem, the language and style takes on a cosmic significance. These are the signs of the end of time, this is the moment when the Son of Man will be seen in triumph. It is almost, as if Mark would divert our thoughts from the despair and fears associated with the coming narrative of the Passion and Death of Jesus. In their place, there is as it were, a parting of the clouds, a prophetic vision, as the words of Jesus echo through time, “then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory....Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.”

© Peter Harrison 2000