Nov. 17, 2013: 33rd Sunday in Ordinary C

Funny things happen when you're put on the spot. For instance, you forget things that you know so well. If I asked you at this moment to recite the Act of Contrition, can you do it? Better yet, can you tell me what is your favorite phrase out of the Act of Contrition? Is your mind drawing a blank? That's what happened to the second graders who were making their First Reconciliation a few days ago. They practiced and memorized their Act of Contrition, but when I asked them to recite it, inevitably they needed to go back to the beginning because they lost their train of thought.

Remembering is difficult when you're under stress or when going through challenges. I'm sure the disciples of Jesus were at a loss as to what to make of the Roman soldiers plundering and destroying the beautiful temple in Jerusalem around year 70 AD. Can you imagine a building complex the size of 29 football fields being destroyed? Eventually some disciples remembered what Jesus said to them almost 37 years prior to that destructive event. When Jesus arrived at  Mount Olive, which overlooked the city of Jerusalem and its beautiful temple, he wept and said, “If this day you only knew what makes for peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. For the days are coming upon you when your enemies will raise a palisade against you; they will encircle you and hem you in on all sides. They will smash you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave one stone upon another within you because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.” Later on Jesus said, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how many times I yearned to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were unwilling! Behold, your house will be abandoned. [But] I tell you, you will not see me until [the time comes when] you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”

I wonder though as Jesus looked over the fate of Jerusalem, if he saw each of our lives before his eyes as well. Each of us is a beautiful temple of the Holy Spirit, and it is more beautifully adorned than the jewels and gold that adorned the Jerusalem temple. Yet, at times, we do not recognize how holy, beautiful, and precious our soul is. Do we not allow, at times, this beautiful temple of God to be disfigured with selfishness, worldly pursuits, or no longer allow the Lord to be worshipped or praised there. We all have been there. That is why my favorite phrase of the Act of Contrition is, "O my God I'm heartily sorry for having offended you...most of all because my sins offend you my God who are all good and deserving of all my love." How forgetful we become to the goodness of our Lord!

The other morning I was having breakfast with a parishioner who has cancer and was told that her length of time on this earth is uncertain. The day before our breakfast, she received her first chemo treatment. Although she felt okay that morning, she knew she was going to feel awful from the treatment soon and potentially face losing all of her hair. On the dining table was a statue of Blessed Mother and Jesus and a picture of St. Padre Pio. She said, "Father, do you know what my son told me the other day that really touched me? He said, 'Mom, it's really a gift from God that we are given this time to be with you.'" What a contrast in emotions for this family when compared to those of the wife and daughters I met with just an hour later. They were grieving the death of their beloved husband and dad who died suddenly, without even a chance for them to say a goodbye. How do you prepare for a moment like that? Isn't it a sobering thought for all of us that this temple God has given us, will not exist on earth as long as we think it will exist?

Jerusalem, the city which Jesus wept over, is also known as the City of David. King David, before the arrival of Jesus, composed this 103rd Psalm which speaks of what we should do as we prepare to leave this earthly temple behind and welcome the Heavenly Jerusalem.

Praise the LORD, my soul; all my being, praise his holy name! Praise the LORD, my soul; and do not forget all his gifts, Who pardons all your sins, and heals all your ills, Who redeems your life from the pit, and crowns you with mercy and compassion, Who fills your days with good things, so your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him. For he knows how we are formed, remembers that we are dust. As for man, his days are like the grass; he blossoms like a flower in the field. A wind sweeps over it and it is gone; its place knows it no more. But the LORD’s mercy is from age to age, toward those who fear him. His salvation is for the children’s children of those who keep his covenant, and remember to carry out his precepts. Praise the Lord, my soul!