Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time (2025)
Have you ever visited a church or historic building that took your breath away? I imagine we have all had that experience at least once in our lives… or at least I hope we have.
A few months ago, I took a friend to see the Basilica of St. Josaphat here in Milwaukee. Because I was actually a cantor and choir member at the basilica and was ordained a priest there, I know the space really well. My friend, however, had no idea what to expect as we walked through the large wooden front doors and up the steps of the vestibule into the body of the church that Sunday morning.
We timed our visit poorly, entering while communion was being distributed. As the choir sang a beautiful setting of the text, “Taste and see the goodness of the Lord” (from Psalm 34), I had just started to slide into a back pew to wait for Mass to end when I realized my friend wasn’t with me. When I looked back at the doors, I saw him, staring up into the grand space, his hand over his mouth, and tears streaming down his cheeks.
It was his first time in a church in a number of years and he was overwhelmed by both the beauty of the basilica and by the Presence he felt there. I remember having a similar feeling the first time I went into Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome, where the scale of the building is grand that it doesn’t feel like you’re in a building at all!
When I first read this Sunday’s Gospel, I imagined the pilgrims (and tourists) who were admiring the Temple having a similar reaction to the one my friend had when we visited St. Josaphat’s. It’s also easy to imagine how shocked they would have been to hear Jesus’ prediction that the magnificent structure would someday be destroyed: “All that you see here—the days will come when there will not be left a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down.”
The main focus, however, isn’t the prediction of the destruction of the Temple. Rather, it is on the events that will precede it—signs that should alert the people to the impending doom. Jesus is talking about destruction, terror, and death that will, in many ways, signal the end of the world his followers had known.
The signs described by Jesus point to deeper realities—realities that may not be easy to understand or recognize. Jesus interprets the signs but also tells his audience that even though an ending to life as they know it will come, that end has not yet arrived.
The Prophet Malachi was describing a similar dynamic in the First Reading when he spoke of that coming day, “blazing like an oven, when all the proud and all evildoers will be stubble.” Although it’s easy to get caught up in that imagery, Malachi didn’t end there, because his prophecy also contained a promise: “For you who fear my name, there will arise the sun of justice with its healing rays.”
It's in that same spirit that Jesus also provides words of comfort: “Remember, you are not to prepare your defense beforehand, for I myself will give you wisdom in speaking… You will be hated by all because of my name, but not a hair of your head will be destroyed. By your perseverance you will secure your lives.”
Destruction, terror, and death fill our world today, just as they did in the days when Saint Luke wrote his Gospel. And yet, this Sunday we are being reminded that even though all hell might be breaking loose around us, Jesus stands with us, offering us God’s wisdom, asking us to give our witness to the world and to offer our testimony with courage and faith. The wisdom of Jesus reminds us that there is, as one commentator observed, “more to life than we can see” (from Living Liturgy).
The day of the Lord is approaching, but for those of us who are committed to the process of becoming the women and men of faith—the disciples—that the Lord calls us to be, then what will be a day of dread for some, will be a time of fulfilled promises and fullness for us.
And so, we persevere in this present moment.
While we know that this world will pass away and that nothing—however great, powerful, or beautiful it may be—will last forever, we stand strong in our faith and in the confidence that God is greater than the darkness of destruction, terror, and death. Returning to the Prophet Malachi’s promise: “For you who fear [God’s] name, there will arise the sun of justice with its healing rays” (3:20a).
The dark night will end and a new and glorious day will dawn.
God keeps God’s promises. Amen.
Grant us, we pray, O Lord our God,
the constant gladness of being devoted to you,
for it is full and lasting happiness
to serve with constancy
the author of all that is good.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen.
-Collect for the Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
Homily prepared for Ss. Peter and Paul Parish in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
