HOMILY– 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time – The End

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I saw an intriguing story in Catholic media this weekend about a deacon who died hours after delivering a homily about being ready for death.

In sharing this with you, don’t think this deacon doesn’t worry about tempting the same fate.

Here’s a quote from an article on the unexpected death:

"On a sunny Sunday afternoon Deacon Michael Puscas stood before his congregation and spoke of judgment day — he told parishioners to always be ready to meet the Lord, for they never know when they will live the last hours of their lives.

Just a few hours after speaking those words at Guardian Angels Parish in Colchester (Connecticut) on Nov. 7, the 68-year-old died suddenly, but peacefully, while swimming."

This weekend Jesus is talking about the end of the world. Pretty scary stuff.

But what he is really talking about is our readiness for, not only, his coming, but the end of our time here on earth.

We, Christians, are called to always be ready to meet Jesus and live our lives as if we could meet the Lord at any moment.

After all, we know neither the day nor the hour when He will return – just as we know neither the day nor hour when our journey in this life will end.

As we come to the close of the liturgical year, we are hearing readings from the Jewish Apocalyptic literature.

These readings are designed to get us thinking about the end.

Yes, Jesus is talking about the end of the world. To the audience in Mark’s Gospel, they thought the end was coming soon.

We should all be as prepared as Mark’s audience for the coming of the Lord.

When the Lord comes, or when our time on this earth comes to an end, all that will matter is the person we have become and what we have done to build up the Kingdom by serving others -- especially the poor and marginalized.