Readings for November 17th:
- Daniel 12:1–3
- Psalm 16:5, 8, 9–10, 11
- Hebrews 10:11–14, 18
- Mark 13:24–32
What The Readings for November 17th Say to Me:
This week’s readings are about the Last judgment and the end times, the time when the material world ends.
The first reading tells us that this future time will be one “unsurpassed in distress” (Daniel 12:1). The passage continues:
“Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake;
some shall live forever,
others shall be an everlasting horror and disgrace.
“But the wise shall shine brightly
Daniel 12:2-3
like the splendor of the firmament,
and those who lead the many to justice
shall be like the stars forever.”
The psalm promises that God guides and protects all who turn to God in times of great distress.
The epistle reminds us that Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross is God’s ultimate act of salvation. It’s the ultimate act to defend the human race and the human spirit against whatever opposes divine love. Christ’s sacrifice was offered once, and yet we can receive the graces of that sacrifice again and again. The key is that we seek those graces.
In the Gospel passage, Jesus describes what the end times will be like. They will be characterized by the destruction of the material world and by His return. He suggests there will be signs that these events are upon us, but signs are not definite indicators. No one can say for sure when these times will come. Therefore, we aren’t called to make looking for signs of the world’s end the purpose of our lives. We’re called to live according to Christ’s words and example.
What I’m Saying (to the Readings and Beyond) This Week:
In addition to prophesying about the end times, do this week’s readings invite me to see times of “distress” as times of purification? (Daniel 12:1) These are times to get a clearer vision of what’s fleeting and what lasts. These are times to reconnect with God, with each other and our purpose and through these connections, to grow stronger.
What Someone Else Is Sharing About This Week’s Readings:
When we feel the most despair, the most fear, the most anxiety, that is when God is the closest to us. That is when we are the least alone. That is when the Promised One is right at our door.
Martha Ligas in her reflection on the readings for November 17th
This Week’s Prayer:
Lord, help me to respond with greater charity. Grant me faith and hope whenever and wherever shadows get longer, and lights get harder to see. Amen.
Work Cited:
The New American Bible Revised Edition, Kindle edition, Fairbrother, 2011. T
Sitting with the Sacred 