HOMILY FOR NOVEMBER 24, MEMORIAL OF SAINTS ANDREW DUNG-LAC AND HIS COMPANIONS, MARTYRS.
THEME: There will be signs in the sun and moon and stars.
BY: Fr Diotacious Chikontwe SMA.
*READINGS OF THE DAY*
Apo 18:1-2,21-23,19:1-3,9
Psalm 99:2-5
Luke 21:20-28
*LITURGICAL COLOUR*
RED
*FROM OUR FIRST READING*
The first reading from the Book of the Apocalypse speaks of, indeed celebrates, the fall of Babylon, ‘Babylon the Great has fallen’. Babylon is code for Rome. At the beginning of the sixth century before Christ, the Babylonian Empire had destroyed the city and temple in Jerusalem, resulting in the Babylonian Exile for the Jewish people. By the time the Book of the Apocalypse had been written just towards the end of the first century A.D., Jerusalem and its Temple had been destroyed again twenty five years earlier by the empire of Rome, the new Babylon. The churches for whom this book was written had also experienced the destructive power of Rome. The reading speaks about God’s servants that Rome has killed. Is there any light in all this darkness, any hope in all this destruction? It is a question that could be asked in many a war-torn situation today.
Both readings, however, end on a note of hope.
RELATED: CECILIAHOMILY FOR THE MEMORIAL OF ST. CECILIA
*FROM OUR GOSPEL READING*
In today’s gospel reading, there is a clear reference to the destruction of the city of Jerusalem, which happened forty years after the death and resurrection of Jesus. Jerusalem fell to the armies of Rome, under the general Titus, who went on to become Emperor of Rome. In the time of Jesus and the early church, the all-powerful Roman Empire must have been seen as eternal, as destined to last forever.
*CONCLUSION*
Nothing lasts forever, not even the great and powerful empires of the world. Only God and his Son endure; they are the beginning and the end, yesterday, today and tomorrow. God’s relationship with us endures; Jesus’ love for us lasts forever and every day he says to us what is said at the end of today’s first reading, ‘Happy are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb’. The Lord calls us to his feast, in the future kingdom of heaven, but also in the here and now of the Eucharist. You will recognize that beatitude from the text of the Mass. The Lord’s call to us to be in communion with him is the constant in the midst of all that is changing. That awareness can inspire us to always ‘stand erect’, holding our heads high, in the words of the gospel reading.
The Lord be with You!
FOR MORE HOMILIES CLICK >>>>>>