Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time – 17th November 2024
We may have read about or even seen people who walk up and down the streets carrying the sign, ‘the end of the world is near!’ This even happened at the time of Jesus. It seems that every age and generation has its fair share of ‘doomsday merchants.’ We see what is happening around our world today; earth quakes, volcanoes, famine and wars in so many countries and we wonder what’s happening, asking whether this is actually the end of the world. People often panic, become frightened; they turn to prayer and religion, they may even become more committed church goers, but is this accurate?
The most important line from the gospel today comes at the end, when Jesus tells us, ‘But as for the day or the hour, nobody knows it, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son; no one but the Father.’ Jesus says that nobody knows the hour, the day or time; but neither does he say anything about the month or the year! Then all the incorrect predications begin again and we are back where we started.