Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time

Mass Celebrated by Archbishop Denis Hart
at St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne,
on Sunday, 16th November, 2003, at 11.00am

Introduction

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

The French Dominican, Father Sertillanges, said, “The future life is not future, here and now we enter into it.”

While we admit that our hold on life is fragile and are often shocked by the lack of permanency in all things. Two things are certain – that we will die and that God’s love for us is infinite. We recognise that through Jesus’ Easter mystery of death and resurrection we are open to eternity and his sure and firm words, day after day, come to meet us.

As we call to mind our sins, let us ask that by a holy and vigilant life we may live in God’s presence, never separating ourselves from him by mortal sin because unrepentant mortal sin is the barrier to eternal life.

Homily

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

These Sundays of the Church Year rightly point to the end of the world. Yet the Christian vision is different. The intended purpose of this focus on the end is to prepare us for the final reckoning and to make us more attentive to the ways of God.

There are many examples. In 960 Bernard in Germany announced the world would end on Good Friday in 992. It did not. Similar prophecies were made in 1186, in 1524, in 1665, in 1806 and indeed in 1908 in York, Pennsylvania, a grocery storeowner, Lee Spangler, announced that the world would end by fire during October 1908. On the last day of October the only thing that fell in York was light rain. Further predictions were made in 1919, 1925, and 1945.

Many Italians, who had long placed their trust that Rome and the world were safe as long as the Colosseum was standing, became hysterical on 18th May 1954 when engineers discovered huge cracks and that the world would end on 24th May.

Thousands rushed to the Vatican where Pope Pius XII rebuked them, “The world will see Tuesday and many more Tuesdays to come.” The end did not come and builders were sent to repair the Colosseum.

Obsessive modern predictions are made that this is an apocalyptic time. The awful things that are happening in the world are leading to a great disaster. Even in this Archdiocese fringe groups have stored up food in caves to prevent being caught in terms of a disaster.

What seems to be most difficult of all and what is our Christian challenge is that the love and the righteousness of God guide our lives. We have to entrust our lives to him because it is serving God that is our lasting joy. It is he who will give us hope. It is he who reminds us that those who have instructed many in virtue will shine as bright as stars.

The need to be watchful and pray constantly will make us worthy to stand before the Son of Man, even though we do not know the day nor the hour. No one knows. Useless worry and speculation must give way to careful preparedness. We know that many families have been ruined by addictions, violence, job loss or illness. We know that sometimes we have been insensitive and selfish and absorbed in self. At times it can seem that awful times are upon us and yet the Psalm response, “Keep me safe O God. You are my hope”, reminds us that God can be found in darkness and he will sustain us because he loves us.

We know not the day and the hour. We must be vigilant and examine ourselves. We must know God’s sustaining hope and love.

+ Denis J. Hart,
Archbishop of Melbourne.