My Words Will Not Pass Away

Friday of the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time

By Melanie Rigney

The court was convened, and the books were opened. I watched, then, from the first of the arrogant words which the horn spoke, until the beast was slain and its body thrown into the fire to be burnt up. The other beasts, which also lost their dominion, were granted a prolongation of life for a time and a season. As the visions during the night continued, I saw One like a son of man coming, on the clouds of heaven; when he reached the Ancient One and was presented before him, he received dominion, glory, and kingship; nations and peoples of every language serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not be taken away, his kingship shall not be destroyed. (Daniel 7:10-14)

Everything growing on earth, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him above all forever. (Daniel 3:75)

Jesus told his disciples a parable. “Consider the fig tree and all the other trees. When their buds burst open, you see for yourselves and know that summer is now near; in the same way, when you see these things happening, know that the Kingdom of God is near. Amen, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” (Luke 21:29-33)

Piety

Lord, help me to glory in Your presence in the dawn and the dusk, in the cold and the heat, in joy and in heartbreak.

Study

And here we are, with one more day (or two, depending on when you read this) to go in ordinary time. On Sunday, Advent begins and we move to the Year A readings, moving from the current Gospel of Luke to the Gospel of Matthew.

It’s a time of endings and beginnings in other aspects of our lives too: we wonder if this will be the last Christmas we have our parents or grandparents. We wonder if we’ll be parents or grandparents or even great-grandparents anew in the coming year. We wonder how that yearend review will go at work, and some of us wonder whether Congress will keep the federal government open in January. Some of our elected officials are worried about their own job status a year out. We wonder if we’ll be thinner/fatter/grayer/more wrinkled/poorer/richer/happier/more depressed/more spiritual/less beset by doubts and anxiety next year at this time.

Note that the Book of Daniel was written some 200 years before Jesus’s birth, and the Gospel of Luke was written more than thirty years after the Resurrection. This human focus on the ultimate Ending and final Beginning is as eternal as the Lord himself. But there’s simply no need for us to try to figure it out. God’s got it covered. He always has. As this liturgical year draws to a close, let’s refocus on God and the way He works in our lives now, today, and what we can do to bring His Word to the world.

Action

Write down how you will attempt to see God more clearly, love Him more dearly, and follow him more nearly in the new liturgical year. Resolve to review your list at the end of each month.