From the bulletin for The Thirty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time (Nov 03, 2024)
31st Sunday
“Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that JESUS CHRIST IS LORD, to the glory of God the Father!” (Phil 2:9-11)
In this passage from Philippians, St. Paul lists those levels as he speaks about the glorious consequences of Christ’s enduring the Cross. Likewise the present bend in the calendar, a.k.a “Hallowtide,” provides, like a liturgical Divine Comedy, a tour of various “levels” of the sections into which men and angels are divided (or united, as the case may be). Let’s recall the cosmic itinerary:
On October 31, the world reminds us about those tongues “under the earth” that confess the Lordship of Jesus Christ by compulsion rather than with joy. These are “burned by the scorching heat and blasphemed the name of God … [for] they did not repent or give him glory” (Rev 16:9). Nevertheless, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bend before me, and every tongue shall give praise to God” (Rev 14:11). And so the fallen angels and lost souls–whom some try to make more present each Halloween–will glorify God unwillingly by manifesting His justice and forbearance for all eternity.
Then on November 1 the Church triumphantly glories in all those “who have survived the time of great distress and washed their robes and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb” (Rev 7:14). These have already joined the uncountable throng that encircles the throne of the Lamb, crying out with ecstatic jubilation, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches, wisdom and strength, honor and glory and blessing!” (Rev 5:12). Beholding God face to face, they take leading roles in the universal symphony of praise John tries to describe in these words: “Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, everything in the universe, cry out: “To the one who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor, glory and might, forever and ever!” (Rev 5:13).
However weakly, the liturgy that day gives us a foretaste of the Church Triumphant, encouraging us, a “called to be saints” (1 Cor 1:2) to strive to join its number one day.
The following day, we know, directs our attention to the Church Suffering. God only knows how many souls currently occupy that place of purgation, unable to do anything themselves to accelerate the painful but necessary process of purifying their souls from all that they were unwilling to renounce in this life! Some have only recently arrived, some have been languishing there perhaps for centuries, on account of their great imperfection and perhaps our neglect of them. The petition of the rich man can be applied to them: “Father Abraham, have mercy upon me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in anguish in this flame!” (Lk 16:24), with the important difference that we on earth really can cross the “great chasm” with our prayers and sacrifices offered from them, in order to speed them onwards to the bosom not of Abraham but Our Lord Himself. Now that the liturgical calendar has led us to those poor, prostrated souls lying on the roadside, let us not coldly pass them by, but charitably offer a “cup of cold water” to them as the Good Samaritan bids us!
Now today. Though the 31st Sunday in Ordinary time does not technically follow the “theme” of the preceding days, the logical progression invites us to consider the Church Militant. A.k.a. us.
The Gospel today reminds us what law makes us members the holy nation, the People of God: “Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength and you shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Mk 12:29-30). Those who strive to live according to that Law, those who love Christ indeed and so keep His commands, make up that sacred assembly that does battle with the gates of hell in this life, assists the souls in Purgatory, and strives to join the choirs of the Saints who are urging us onward and upward.
And so: “surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Heb 12:1-2)
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