Name: __________________________________

Email Address: ______________________

Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

A. Before You Read
Answer the following questions.
1. What predictions about the end of the world have you heard? ___________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
How did you feel about these? _____________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
2. Do you think the world will end? How? ______________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________

B. Gospel Reading
1. Before reading the Gospel passage, look for the following words in the Gospel reading: Learn
a lesson from the fig tree, when you see these things happening, he is near. Highlight or un-
derline these words.
2. Who knows when everything will pass away? _________________________________________

Mark 13:24-32.
24
Jesus said to his disciples: “In those days after that tribula-
tion the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its
light, 25and the stars will be falling from the sky, and the pow-
ers in the heavens will be shaken.
26
“And then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in the
clouds’ with great power and glory, 27and then he will send out
the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the
end of the earth to the end of the sky.
28
“Learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branch be-
comes tender and sprouts leaves, you know that summer is
near. 29In the same way, when you see these things happening,
know that he is near, at the gates. 30Amen, I say to you, this
generation will not pass away until all these things have taken
place. 31Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not
pass away.
32
“But of that day or hour, no one knows, neither the angels
in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”

Focusing the Gospel

From http://liturgy.slu.edu/33OrdB111515/theword_working.html. Accessed: 31 October 2015.
1 To the point: “Learn a lesson from the fig tree.” What are we to learn? That the annual green-
ing of the fig tree is a harbinger of new life arising out of seeming deadness. That the annual
gospel prediction of apocalyptic destruction is a harbinger that Jesus “is near.” Indeed Jesus’
promise that he will be near at the end of times is a promise already being fulfilled now. Life
5 arising from deadness has already happened to Jesus. It is already happening in us.

 241
242 Sunday Mass Readings (Year B)

C. First Reading
Daniel 12:1-3.
1
In those days, I Daniel, heard this word of the Lord: “At that time there shall arise Michael, the great
prince, guardian of your people; it shall be a time unsurpassed in distress since nations began until that
time. At that time your people shall escape, everyone who is found written in the book.
2
“Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake; some shall live forever, others shall be
an everlasting horror and disgrace.
3
“But the wise shall shine brightly like the splendor of the firmament, and those who lead the many to
justice shall be like the stars forever.”

Connecting the Gospel

From http://liturgy.slu.edu/33OrdB111515/theword_working.html. Accessed: 31 October 2015.
...to the first reading: Like the gospel, the first reading apocalyptically describes calamity and
distress. But its stronger point is the promise that those “who lead the many to justice” will
“live forever.” The first reading provides the ethical injunction—a way to live—that assures
new life will arise from seeming deadness.
10...to experience: Popular religious culture is fascinated by the end times with “cataclysms and
their unsurpassed distress.” But what the end times more truly reveal is Christ’s victory and
our share in his glory.

D. Reading Comprehension
Part A. Write T if the sentence is true, or F if it is false.
_____ 1. Jesus talked to the people about the end days.
_____ 2. He said that the sun would grow dark and the heavens would be shaken.
_____ 3. The Son of Man would come to destroy all who had been evil.
_____ 4. Summer is near when the fig tree begins to produce new leaves.
_____ 5. Jesus said that the days of tribulation would happen during his time.

Part B. Fill in the blanks with the correct answer.

1. The moon will not ________ its light and the stars will ________ from the sky.
2. God’s elect will be ___________ by the Son of Man.
3. The fig tree has a ___________ to teach us.
4. The words of Jesus will ________________.
5. No _____ knows of that day or hour but ________ the Father.

Part C. Answer according to the reading passage the following questions.

1. What lesson does Jesus want to give to us? ___________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
2. What does the end of time tell us? __________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
3. How should the end times affect our lives? ___________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________

E. Prayer
From http://liturgy.slu.edu/33OrdB111515/prayerpathmain.html. Accessed: 31 October 2015.
On the Gospel (Mark 13:31)
Heaven and earth will pass away but my words will not pass away.
Thirty-third Sunday of Ordinary Time (B) 243

Our cars will rust and fall apart,

houses crumble to the ground.
Our fondest dreams will disappoint.
Everything will go.
Investments. Worries. Honors. Pains.
Yet, you say to us,
“My words will not pass away.”
Jesus, please fill us with your words.
which will never pass away.
You are love. Love remains.
Amen.

Optional Additional Reading

I. More In-depth Reflection

From http://liturgy.slu.edu/33OrdB111515/theword_cultural.html. Accessed: 31 October 2015.
1 Mark’s Jesus is absolutely convinced that everything he has announced will occur during
the lifetime of his audience. We know Jesus died around 30 C.E. and the Temple was de-
stroyed in 70 C.E.
That Jesus survived birth and lived approximately to the age of thirty places him in a
5 very select 10 percent of the population of his time and place. A large portion of Jesus’ audi-
ence would have been considerably younger than he, severely disease-ridden, and facing
ten or fewer years of life-expectancy.
In the light of this data from paleopathology (the study of ancient disease), it would
seem Jesus expected the political end of Israel much sooner than it actually occurred.
10 He is so positive that he gives his word of honor: “Truly, I tell you” and “Heaven and
earth will pass away but my words will not pass away” (Mk 13:30-31). Secrecy, lying, and
deception are so integral a part of safeguarding Mediterranean honor that people are at a
loss to know when someone is telling the truth. To guarantee the truth of what one says, a
person swears an oath: “By my life,” “As I live,” “Truly, Truly I say to you,” and the like.
15 Another way to guarantee the truth of one’s statement is to say, “even if the impossible
should happen, what I tell you is impossible not to happen. Heaven and earth are God’s
good creation and will last forever. Even if you can imagine the impossible (that they will
disappear), my impossible sounding statement is definitely going to occur.”
Westerners love to plan for the future. They invented future planning, believing they can
20 estimate and cause events to take place within the next five to twenty-five years. Like the
disciples, they too would like to know and try to calculate when “the end” will happen. As
the year 2000 approached, many Christians attempted to make a similar “guess-timate.”
Everyone needs to re-read Jesus’ final words: “No one knows, neither the angels in heav-
en, nor the Son, but only the Father” (Mk 13:32). And he’s not telling!

II. What do you think?

Reflect on the following questions; write your reflection in your notebook.
From http://liturgy.slu.edu/33OrdB111515/reflections_osdieck.html. Accessed: 31 October 2015.
1. “My words will not pass away.” What do you take along with you when you die?
_______________________________________________________________________________
244 Sunday Mass Readings (Year B)

Is there any correlation between love and the Word of God that does not pass away?
_______________________________________________________________________________
Is there anything you can you do to stretch your capacity to love?
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
2. In his homily, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away,” Pope Fran-
cis discusses our final destination. What does he consider the job of the Church or the People
of God while we are here on earth? _________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
How are we to be the leaven in humanity? ___________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
What is the destination of this People? Our destination is the Kingdom of
God, … full communion with the Lord, familiarity with the Lord, entry into
his own divine life, where we will live in the joy of his love beyond measure,
a full joy. Dear brothers and sisters, being the Church, to be the People of
God, in accordance with the Father’s great design of love, means to be the
leaven of God in this humanity of ours. It means to proclaim and to bring
God’s salvation to this world of ours, so often led astray, in need of answers
that give courage, hope and new vigor for the journey. May the Church be
a place of God’s mercy and hope, where all feel welcomed, loved, forgiven
and encouraged to live according to the good life of the Gospel. And to
make others feel welcomed, loved, forgiven and encouraged, the Church
must be with doors wide open so that all may enter. And we must go out
through these doors and proclaim the Gospel.
­—Pope Francis, homily, November 29, 2013