Last (34th) Sunday in Ordinary Time, November 24, 2024
The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe
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Jesus Christ is the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead and ruler of the kings of the earth. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Of course there is nothing ordinary about “Ordinary Time.” It takes its temporal place between Christmas and Lent, then again between Easter and Advent. These are weeks that we celebrate birthdays and holidays of course, but there is also always waiting during Ordinary Time. We have been waiting, and waiting, and now this time of waiting is nearly done. Advent arrives and then time to celebrate the coming of Jesus to our planet.
Pretty religious, I guess. But I think waiting is a calling I want to accept in every part of my life. I’m usually in a hurry, until I remember to wait. There are many things on my mind, and I know this is just as true for Margaret. We create to-do lists, and if they’re short enough feel good about getting those things done. If they’re too long we can just add things to tomorrow. Sometimes we’re OK with that.
But waiting calls on me to sit, be still, let thoughts and to-dos flow through my mind like a stream, put aside the earth and wait for heaven. This is not just something to do in the casket before my funeral (if I have a casket, if I have a funeral … customs change …This does not require a beautiful sunset (although I love to sit before a beautiful sunset). I sometimes sit like this during a sermon, or a class, or in a “waiting” room – part of a captive audience, not going anywhere. At our Thanksgiving and Christmas parties, unless I have duties, I can sit, be still, make conversation and do no-thing.
As the visions during the night continued, I saw one like a Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven.
So n the religious waiting season is nearly done. Ordinary Time’s green liturgical robes and banners come down, and the colors of Advent will take their place. The music enthralls my waiting soul. O come, o come Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel. So ready to join the captive throng.
In Illinois these last days of November are dark and cold. The winds blow, rain and snow come and go, I bundle up inside our cozy bungalow. Thursday night I watched football in a snowstorm in Cleveland, the stadium literally on the edge of Lake Erie, the lake effect in full force. In Buffalo, famous for its snowstorms, the stadium is four miles inland, but not in Cleveland.
Baby, it’s cold outside! Of course the camera found several shirtless hunks of male flesh, freezing, screaming, jumping up and down, watching their Browns win the game. And when the game was over, somewhere they found a happy throng inside, so happy to be warm again.
The Lord is king, and he has made the world firm, not to be moved.
The weather changes, but the mountain does not move. The seasons move through the year, and farmers follow the weather because they know how much it means on the mountain. As Advent runs right up upon us, the mountain doesn’t move, the weather changes, and we get caught in that rush of change. But then we can sit still, breathe deep and know the Lord has made the world FIRM.
 (Daniel 7, Psalm 93, Rev 1, Mark 11, John 18)
(posted at www.davesandel.net)
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