Putting On Our Spiritual Glasses

Pastor’s Column

33rd Sunday Ordinary Time

November 17, 2024

Many of those who sleep in the dust shall awake; some will live forever, others shall be an everlasting horror and disgrace. But the wise shall shine brightly like the splendor of the firmament, and those who lead the many to justice will be like the stars forever.

Daniel 12:3

As we approach the end of one liturgical year and prepare for the beginning of another in two weeks, the readings at Mass begin to take on an apocalyptic tone, teaching us about the end of the world. Let’s see where the scriptures take us this weekend.

Those of us who need glasses in order to see things at a distance or up close (or in some cases – both) know that the world looks very different without them. This Sunday, the scriptures invite us to put on a pair of spiritual glasses, to get in focus, and begin to see the world as it really is. A worldly person, that is, someone whose focus in life extends only to this present existence and not to the unseen world to come, will necessarily have myopic vision. This world is very real, but it is not all that exists. Christ wants us to see where we are going, where he is leading us, so that we will make the right choices and be sure to arrive there. In order to see clearly, then, we must put on our glasses of faith, which we obtain by listening to the Lord speaking to us in the Scriptures and through the church.

The book of Daniel looks toward the future following the resurrection of the dead. Some will rise to great glory, others to everlasting disgrace. What’s the difference? The choices we are making right now. Both the first reading (Daniel 12:1-3) and the gospel (Mark 13:24-32) use images from astronomy. Science has shown us that the very elements that make up our bodies and the earth were produced within ancient stars. Isn’t it interesting, then, that Daniel says that the wise shall shine brightly like the stars for all eternity, and those who lead many to justice will be like the stars forever. It would seem, then, that the wise, that is, the friends of the Lord, have a destiny with the stars. This is exciting stuff.

Who, then, is the wise person in this world? How do we reach this glorious destination and avoid becoming an “everlasting horror and disgrace?” We follow Christ. We believe in him. We listen to his teachings every week at Mass in the Scriptures and at home and really try to put them into practice. We pray to him every day. We are careful how we treat others, and thus follow the golden rule, to treat others as we would like to be treated ourselves. We repent of our sins on a regular basis and go to confession when we need to. Let us ask the Lord to help us, each day, to see with spiritual glasses and thus to more and more see the world as it really is.

Father Gary