33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year B - Hope in Tribulation & “Over My Head”

In this, the second-to-last week of the Church year, Jesus has finally made it to Jerusalem. Near to his passion and death, he gives us a teaching of hope—telling us how it will be when he returns again in glory.

Sunday’s Gospel (Mk. 13:24-32) is taken from the end of a long discourse in which Jesus describes tribulations the likes of which haven’t been seen “…since the beginning of God’s creation”. He describes what amounts to a dissolution of God’s creation, a “devolution” of the world to its original state of formlessness and void. First, human community—nations and kingdoms—will break down. Then the earth will stop yielding food and begin to shake apart. Next, the family will be torn apart from within and the last faithful individuals will be persecuted. The Temple will be desecrated and the earth emptied of God’s presence. Finally, God is described as putting out the lights that He established in the sky in the very beginning—the sun, the moon and the stars. Into this “uncreated” darkness, the Son of Man, in whom all things were made, will come.

Jesus has already told us that the Son of Man must be humiliated and killed. Here he describes his ultimate victory, using royal-divine images drawn from the Old Testament—clouds, glory and angels. He shows himself to be the fulfillment of all God’s promises to save “the elect,” the faithful remnant. The First Reading this weekend (Dan. 12:1-3) tells us that this salvation will include the bodily resurrection of those who sleep in the dust. We are to watch for this day, when his enemies are finally made his footstool, as today’s Epistle (Heb 10:11-18) envisions. We can wait in confidence knowing, as we pray in today’s Psalm (Psalm 16), that we will one day delight at His right hand forever.

In honor of this weekend’s readings, we would like to share our latest video “Over My Head”, a traditional spiritual dating from the 19th century of unknown authorship, and sung in churches throughout the world. This wonderful and lively composition by Tom Kendzia and Pamela Warrick-Smith features two beautiful Easter verses.

Video can be watched by clicking here or on the picture below: