Lesson [32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A]

We Don't Know WHEN Christ Will Come Again, but We Do Know THAT He Will Come Again

My dear brothers and sisters, in today's Gospel Jesus gave us a parable of ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. And at the end of the Gospel, Jesus himself sums up the meaning of his parable: "Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour." It's so easy to forget this.

We go on living as if we think this earthly life will go on forever. Nothing is further from the truth. Death is not a distant point in the future, an endpoint of our lives. Rather, it accompanies us each step of the way and could come upon us at any time. And history itself will also die, come to an end.

When will this last day happen? There are only two possibilities. Either Christ will come again, bring an end to history, and establish his Kingdom definitively before we die; Or before that, he will come to each of us at the moment of our death, and to each of our loved ones, and bring us to his judgment seat individually.

There is no doubt about this; our Lord has revealed it. And the Church today is asking us to think about it, to remember it, to have a living faith in it.

The Nearness of Christ's Second Coming

The Christian community in the ancient Greek city of Thessalonica, to which St. Paul wrote the Letter we listened to in the Second Reading, had a problem.

They were first-generation Christians, and the first generation was convinced that Christ's Second Coming was right around the corner. (His "Second Coming" is the one we profess faith in every Sunday when we pray the Creed: "He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead.")

But it didn't happen the first year after his Ascension, nor the second. And then a few more years passed, and still, he didn't return. And it so happened that some of the believers of the community in Thessalonica died, and Christ still hadn't come. And the remaining Christians were worried about their brothers and sisters who had died.

Since they were already dead, they were going to miss Christ's Second Coming, so they thought. And as a result, some Thessalonians thought their relatives wouldn't be able to come with the rest of them into Christ's definitive Kingdom. They were lost because they had died too soon!

St. Paul corrects their mistaken understanding. He explains what we already know and profess every Sunday: that when Christ comes again, both the living and the dead will be brought before him to receive their reward, be it eternal life with him forever in heaven, or eternal separation from him forever in hell. Jesus is Lord and Savior and Judge of both the living and the dead.

But St. Paul doesn't try to convince the Thessalonians that Christ isn't coming soon. That conviction isn't a mistake. Christ is coming soon. He either comes soon for each one of us, which we call death, or he'll be coming soon to bring history itself to its end and fulfilment.

These are truths of our faith, and we shouldn't ignore them; today we have a chance to reflect on them.

November Perspective

For Catholics, the month of November has long been a time to put things into perspective. It's the month when the liturgy reminds us that our Lord will come again, and that this life is not all that there is.
The wisdom and peace of mind that come from reflecting on these truths, in the light of Christ's love, are incalculable. But we have to put forth the effort to make that reflection. We have to take time to contemplate the changing natural season, or visit the graves of loved ones, or spend more time with the sick and the dying or read about the past history of salvation and God's plan for the future.
In this Mass, Christ will come once again to offer himself to each one of us, pledging his faithfulness and the glory to come our way if we stay faithful to him. As he does, let's make a promise.
Let's promise our Lord that we will do something concrete to make this month different, to put our personal life in harmony with the Church's deep meditation on the Last Things. And let's not leave this building until we've decided what that "something" will be.

Our Lady and Souls in Purgatory

The existence of purgatory — where all those souls who die in the state of sanctifying grace and yet still have to undergo a period of purgation before entering the kingdom of God, because according to Scriptures nothing sin will enter heaven — is a dogma of our Catholic faith.

This is how St. Faustina described purgatory: "I was in a misty place full of fire in which there was a great crowd of suffering souls. They were praying fervently for themselves but to no avail for only we can come to their aid. The flames which were burning them did not touch me at all. They answered me in one voice, that their greatest torment was longing for God."

She saw Our Lady visiting these souls. All the Holy Souls in purgatory call her "The Star of the Sea." As she was leaving, St. Faustina heard a voice say to her, "My mercy does not want this, but justice demands it." The church teaches that once in purgatory, those souls cannot gain any more merit to help themselves. They rely on our charity, our prayers, our sufferings and our sacrifices. But even if we should forget those in purgatory, Our Lady cannot forget them because she loves all her children, especially those who need her most.

Our Lady once said to St. Bridget, "I am the Mother of all the souls in purgatory, and I am Mother of Mercy to these my children who are in the greatest need of my assistance, since in their torments they cannot help themselves."

St. Bernardine of Siena says "that in that prison where souls that are spouses of Jesus Christ are detained, Mary has a certain dominion and plentitude of power not only to relieve them but even to deliver them from their pains."

Again, she told that as a compassionate Mother, she condescends to go herself often into that Holy Prison to visit and comfort her suffering children. To her children who are devoted to the recitation of the Holy Rosary every day, Our Lady promises "to personally deliver them from purgatory herself." That promise is pictured in the painting of the Last Judgment by Michaelangelo, where Our Lady is seen pulling two souls out of purgatory by means of the chain of the Holy Rosary.

And how about Our Lady's second great scapular promise known as the "Sabbatine Privilege," which was given by the Blessed Virgin Mary to Pope John XXII in the year 1322: "Those who wear the Scapular and fulfill two other conditions (Chastity and Prayer) can obtain early liberation from Purgatory, through the special intercession of the Virgin Mary, on the first Saturday after their death, the day consecrated to her."

St. Bernadine of Siena said the Blessed Virgin has the power of delivering souls from purgatory, but more particularly those who were most devoted to her.

The church teaches that the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the most effective means of assisting souls in purgatory. Another effective means is reciting the rosary. By the rosary, we offer to God all the merits of Our Lord in union with Mary for the suffering souls.

How much it must please Our Lady when we offer the rosary in union with her to liberate her suffering children from that holy prison to be with her in heaven, and in the process, she promises to also liberate us from that prison to be with her forever.