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WOF Radio > Sermons > Sermon Archive for 2009 > Sermon 462 : The Last Battle : 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Current rating: 4.7 (15 ratings)

Sermon 462 : The Last Battle : 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

11/15/2009

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The scriptures for this Sunday represent a biblical genre called "apocalyptic", which means "unveiling" or "revelation." The extraordinary revelation of these particular scriptures is that in the death and resurrection of Jesus, the battle against the fallen powers of heaven and earth has been won and a new age has begun, the age of the Church.

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Comments

John Goode

I was informed of you sermons by a priest friend who has assured me your sermons are excellent.

11/11/2009 12:52:15 PM

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Bryan Shaver

Thank you for addressing the "End of Times" argument talked about so much by our evangelical brothers...

11/13/2009 11:04:29 AM

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Ken Gill

What a beautifully composed homily, truly nourishment for the soul and mind.

Pax.

11/15/2009 8:03:28 AM

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Gina

I am thrilled to have clicked here today. I attended two Masses this weekend (I cantor for one parish, and attend with my husband at another), and neither one had a homily. Instead we got a pitch for a donation for the religious retirement fund. Thank you so much for this.

11/15/2009 8:43:28 PM

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Giovanni Secchi

Dear Father Robert,

You have very well done. Thank you. -
I still dare to add my notes to your last Sunday homily. It is still 33rd week in Ordinary time, so I may be still allowed to refer to the first day of the liturgical week. Actually that should not be a problem anyway.

As you say, the prophetic passages in the Book of Daniel pre-announce the coming of the New and Everlasting Kingdom of Christ, which then replaced the old idea of a monarch and his dynasty in his bloodline, reigning over the land of Israel and its people, simply here on Earth. But here comes my concern. The Human mind tends to think in exclusive arrangements, like in the set theory, or as the children learn ver early "The good ones go into the pot, the bad ones go into your crop." Accordingly one would claim that one historical stage would not have anything to do with the previous one. Already the historical periodisation patterns suggest to some extent simplistic approaches. Modern historians instead speak more and more of the "longue durées", coherences that include several stages. Are we Christians blind for the big picture? OF COURSE ABSOLUTELY NOT.

What do we mean, if we say that one stage "replaces" the previous one? In which sense do we apply this concept of change? One could ask: How can be expected something, that would not correspond to the criteria of what is expected to come. In Daniel 2:44 the last and neverending reign is denoted by the same word like the (merely human) reigns before "mal'kow", i.e. kingdom. What are we doing? We are dealing with salvation history, and God works through the ages by means of analogy, similarity in dissimilarity, or as St. Paul describes it in Ephesians 1:9-11, God reveals what has been 'hidden' ('mysté[e]rion', i.e. not made visible) to His people, and He unfolds His ("household"-) plan (-> oikonomía) step by step according to His wisdom. This historical process developes through the stages with 'týpoi', patterns that prepair the growth of fulfilment (see Romans 5:14).

The vanished reigns foreshadowed the coming of Christ, who is our King forever. Even more remarkable is the linkage to King David, which we find explicitly mentioned in the beginning of the New Testament, i.e. the Gospel of Matthew, where Christ's pedegree (hebr. Toledot) leads to King David. And David was a shepherd, and our Lord Jesus Christ is called by us our Shepherd, and we are his sheep. Christ's announcement of the Heavenly Kingdom does not falsify the development before, but leads it to its destination, to its bloom, that fulfils, what was prepared. As the Apostle Paul says in Ephesians 3:8-9 (NASB) "I [...] have been entrusted with this special grace, of proclaiming to the gentiles the unfathomable treasure of Christ 9 and of throwing light on the inner workings of the mystery kept hidden through all the ages in God, the Creator of everything."

But the new Kingdom is also unlike the old Kingdom. Christ refuses again and again to be identified as the new monarch, who would expel the Romans out of the land of Israel. Our Lord meant something different, as He answered to Pilate "My kingdom is not of this world." (John 18:36).

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BIBLE REFERENCES

(DRA) Daniel 2:44
But in the days of those kingdoms the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, and his kingdom shall not be delivered up to another people, [...] and itself shall stand for ever.

(DRA) Romans 5:14 But death reigned from Adam unto Moses, even over them also who have not sinned after the similitude of the transgression of Adam, who is a figure [[-> TÝPOS]] of him who was to come. ("hós estin TÝPOS toû méllontos")

(DRA) Romans 5:17
For if by one man's offence death reigned through one; much more they who receive abundance of grace, and of the gift, and of justice, shall reign in life through one, Jesus Christ.

(DRA) Hebrews 8:4-5
If then he were on earth, he would not be a priest: seeing that there would be others to offer gifts according to the law,
5 Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things. As it was answered to Moses, when he was to finish the tabernacle: See (saith he) that thou make all things according to the pattern [[-> TÝPOS]] which was shewn thee on the mount.

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oikonomía
(Luke 16:2, 1Co 9:17 in the sense of administration, stewardship, household rule, plan)

(DRA)Ephesians 1:9-11
"That he might make known unto us the mystery [[-> MYSTÉ[E]RION]] of his will, according to his good pleasure, which he hath purposed in him, 10 That in the dispensation [[-> OIKONOMÍA]] of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: 11 In whom we also are called by lot, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things according to the counsel of his will."

(DRA) Ephesians 3:9
"And to enlighten all men, that they may see what is the dispensation [[OIKONOMÍA]] of the mystery [[MYSTÉ[E]RION]] which hath been hidden from eternity in God, who created all things"

(DRA) Colossians 1:25 Whereof I am made a minister according to the dispensation [[OIKONOMÍA (in the sense of 'plan')]] of God, which is given me towards you, that I may fulfill the word of God:

(NASB) Col 1:25
"... the Church, 25 of which I was made a servant with the responsibility [[-> OIKONOMÍA]] towards you that God gave to me, that of completing God's message, 26 the message which was a mystery hidden for generations and centuries and has now been revealed to his holy people."

(DRA) 1Ti 1:4
"... the edification [OIKONOMÍA] of God, which is in faith.

11/17/2009 11:24:39 PM

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