Scripture Reflection - November 16, 2025

Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time

First Reading: Malachi 3:19-20a 

Psalm 98:5-6, 7-8, 9

Second Reading: 2 Thessalonians 3:7-12

Gospel: Luke 21:5-9

We have come to the point in the liturgical year wherein the Church contemplates “the end times,” and we anticipate the hope-filled Season of Advent. Today’s readings, especially from Malachi and Luke, seem ominous. But let us read them in the context of the responsorial psalm: “The Lord comes to rule the earth with justice” is the refrain, and the psalm fleshes out what that looks like with images of the earth and its creatures harmoniously joining with humans in joyful, song-drenched praise of the Creator. It is a vision of the promised new creation, the reign of God come to fulfillment. In this hope-filled vision, Malachi’s purifying fire and Luke’s warning of the destruction to come are in fact preparing the way, much as John the Baptist’s winnowing fan and preaching of repentance prepare the way for Jesus’ ministry. We are assured that the faithful will experience the healing sun of justice, and those who persevere amid persecution will secure their lives.

Yet, the ominous portents of Luke’s gospel resonate all too eerily with devastating events in our world today: The destruction of the Temple signified the destruction of a way of life, and the end of an era. When Luke writes of Jesus’ foretelling, it has in fact already happened. For many peoples of our world and of our own country, ways of life have been and are being destroyed, and cultural eras are coming to an end. It has happened in every age. War, famine, earthquakes and other human and natural disasters fill our newsfeed, and there are those who rise up claiming to be the ones who will bring salvation via security and prosperity for a certain few. Frauds and imposters that they are, Jesus warns us not to follow them, but to testify to the truth of God’s reign despite their threats. How do we so testify? And how do we withstand the real threats wielded right here in our own time and place?

Paul provides a clue in his summons to the Thessalonians to live orderly lives, attending faithfully to the duties of their calling. What are the duties of our calling as disciples?  How might we live them out in courageous testimony to the reign of God amid the powers of threat and destruction? Our summons as Christians is to live in the present as though God’s promised future is already here. By living out of that future vision already secured by Jesus in the resurrection we contribute to the transformation of the present world through our own continuously transformed lives. Thereby, little by little, we hasten the coming of God’s reign.

Sr. Kathleen McManus, OP