33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time [B]
November 14, 2021
Mark 13:24-32

We are nearing the end of the year. We are in the middle of November, and we are going to end 2021. At the same time, we are at the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, and next week, we will celebrate Christ the King, the ultimate Sunday of the Liturgical year. Thus, the Church provides us with the Gospel that speaks about the end.

Jesus was with his disciples on the Mount of Olive just at the east side of Jerusalem, facing the Temple. One of His disciples claimed that the Temple was magnificently built, and indeed, it turned to be one of the ancient wonders. The building was constructed by putting together thousand massive stones. One stone block could even reach more than 10 tons. Not only imposingly grand, but it was also majestic. The gold and precious stones adorned this holy structure. No wonder if people would expect that the Temple would last forever.

However, Jesus disagreed. He pronounced His judgment over Jerusalem, and the Temple would be burned and destroyed just within a generation after Jesus. Indeed, Jesus’ judgment became a reality when in 70 AD, Titus and his Roman army besieged and eventually razed Jerusalem to the ground. Josephus, a Jewish historian, narrated that a hundred people were crucified every day during the siege and people inside the city resorted to cannibalism to survive. The Temple was burning, and after some time, the most beautiful edifice in ancient times was nothing but ruins and rubbles.

Why did Jesus pronounce such terrible judgment to the city of Jerusalem, to the sacred place in Israel? Jerusalem, especially the elders, rejected Jesus, and refusing Jesus means to deny God Himself. This was not, however, that the first time. In the Old Testament, the prophets kept warning the Israelites to return to God. However, most of the time, Israel, represented by its kings and priests, declined the call and even persecuted the prophets of God. The Kingdom of Israel was eventually facing its judgment. The Assyrian empire decimated the northern kingdom in 721 BC, and the Babylonian empire exiled the southern kingdom in 587 BC.

Jesus was not acting like a pessimistic prophet of doom. Jesus resurrected the message of the prophets. The message of the Gospel is repentance. We are called to believe in Jesus, which is not only in our lips but also in our lives. Jesus criticized the religious leaders in His time, both the priests and the laity. They performed their religious duties for a show but secretly committed crimes against the poor of Israel. If we fail to repent, we might court the same disaster.

Often, I hear some people say, ‘I will confess my sins when I am old.” Or, “I do not need to change because when I am dying, I will receive the anointing of the sick, and I will go to heaven.” This kind of thinking is dangerous. Why? Firstly, it is an abuse of grace, a severe sin. Secondly, if we do not repent now, the more obstinate, we become, and the harder it is to get out from our vices.

Jesus’ judgment might be about the end of Jerusalem and the world, but the core is about repentance here and now.

Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP
Photocredit: Danie Franco