33rd Sunday of the Year
By Edel Murphy OP
Gospel: Mark 13: 24-32 Alleluia: Luke 21:36
I can be like the disciples in Chapter 13 of Mark’s gospel wanting definite answers and time frames. And in today’s world of technology I can have a false sense of security thinking I am in control of my timetables, appointments, measuring length of time at an event, and mapping out how long it takes to get to a destination.
Today’s Gospel begins with a common expression from the OT having to do with the end of time.
“But in those days, following that distress
the sun will be darkened and the moon not give its light
the stars will fall from the sky.
and the heavenly bodies will be shaken”. (Mk 13:24-25)
Many of our students who are now members of our school community in which I teach come to my mind on reading the opening paragraph and of listening to daily news of people dying and the many disasters occurring in the world.
Our new pupils, approximately 30 throughout the school, have had to leave their homeland and this must be like the end of the world to them, having to leave because of wars and the destruction of their homes.
A month ago a new child came to my class, I refer to him here as N – N is one of three children in my class who with their families have been forced to leave their home and seek refuge in Ireland. N, with no word of English, together with his mother and two siblings have left their native country for fear of their safety. Each day I observed him looking at us, trying to see clues as to what we we’re doing and saying. He was watching carefully. It was two weeks before he would exchange a smile.
His alertness appears to have helped him to grow in strength and confidence in his new surroundings and praying with us to God who is our hope and refuge. N depended on the atmosphere surrounding him, the expressions of our faces, the tone of our voices, the actions of our bodies.
It was the human interactions of watching, listening, observing that was to lead him to taking a chance to smile and raise his hand to offer an answer. Eventually we heard his voice, I am N, I am 8, hello!
The disciples in Marks’ chapter 13 ask for definite signs as to when the second coming will occur. Jesus in Mark’s gospel of today calls on us to take a lesson from the fig tree.
“As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near.”
The appearance of buds or leaves on the fig tree is a sure sign of the end of winter and the beginning of summer. Perhaps for N and his family his being free in himself to say hello and to smile in class are the buds that are now appearing and he and his family may feel safe for now.
May all that N and all our other students and their families who have fled their countries in need of safety, be strengthened so that they may stand firm with confidence. As in the Gospel passage Mark’s faith in God’s victory in Christ is firm, And for each of us the ‘parousia’ will be our passing from this life into the life of God. With N and other students in our class they have led us further into the life of God through their alertness and constant acknowledgement of God being a refuge for them. They are our wise ones. These children and their families have lived in great distress, where life is being eradicated and in a world in which nations cannot unite for peace. And yet the invitation is to stand firm and to look to God for only God knows all.
As the Alleluia verse of this Sunday’s Gospel states – “Stay awake, praying at all times for the strength to survive all that is going to happen, and to hold ground before the Son of Man”.
I look to N and the other 2 children in my class as stars shining – they are the wise ones in all the ugliness of war that they have witnessed and in their suffering they have taught us much.
“Those who are wise will shine as brightly as the expanse of the heavens, and those who have instructed many in uprightness, as bright as stars for all eternity”. Dan 12:1-3
For these children are stars shining brightly offering hope despite the uncertainties that surround them.