The month of
November begins with the Solemnity of All Saints, followed by the Commemoration
of All Souls on the following day. All Saints Day points to Paradiso, while All Souls Day reminds us
of Purgatorio, while we are still in Inferno, to put this in analogy with Dante’s Divine Comedy. In this context, Inferno is no necessarily what a fiery
place, expressed as “gehenna” or “geenna” (γέεννα) in the original Greek text of the Gospel, as in Matthew
5:22. Rather, as Dante put, Inferno
is where we are so far away from God, like where we have been ever since Adam
and Eve were evicted from Eden, which, in Hebrew, means paradise.
On the first
day of November, we think of all Saints who are already in Paradis. Then, on the second day of November, we think of all souls
in Purgatorio, purifying and
preparing to enter Paradiso as
saints. We are reminded that we are still far from God and are on the
transformative pilgrimage, more like Exodus. To put it in light of Dante’s
Divine Comedy, All Saints Day and All Souls Day remind us that we are on the
Exodus journey from Inferno, where
God is so distant, to Paradiso, where
God is, through Purgatorio, which is
juxtaposed to the purifying nature of the Exodus desert experience.
November is
also the month when a cycle of liturgical year ends with the week of Christ the
King Sunday (34th Sunday in Ordinary Time) and a new cycle begins
with Advent. Because of this unique reality in liturgical cycle, the month of
November bears an increasingly eschatological tone toward the end of liturgical
cycle, heightening our anxiousness and hope for parousia. At the same time, the Gospel readings for the last three
Sundays of the liturgical year focus on readiness for parousia (παρουσία) at
eschaton (ἔσχατον).
Across all
three liturgical cycles (A, B, C), the
Gospel readings for the last three Sundays of a liturgical year (32nd,
33rd, and 34th Sundays) guide our attention to be ready
for parousia, which is to take the
qualified faithful to the heavenly wedding (Revelation 19:6-9) and to Paradiso (Revelation 21-22) to complete
a liturgical year and to give its way to the Advent season of the following liturgical
year. These readings, as shown below box, cover Jesus’s activities and teaching
between his final entry into Jerusalem and his death on the Cross. Namely,
these reflect most of the Gospel narrative contents of the Holy Week. However,
an emphasis for an end of liturgical year period is on how Jesus guides us to
prepare for eschaton during his last
days in Jerusalem, while the Last Supper and Jesus’ Passion were focused during
the Holy Week.
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Cycle
A
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Cycle
B
|
Cycle
C
|
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32nd
Sunday
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Matt
25:1-13
The parable of the ten virgins.
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Mark
12:38-44
Denunsing the hypocrisy of the scribes
and describing the poor widow’s devotion as a model of faith.
|
Luke
20:27-38
Hypocrites ask Jesus about the
resurrection and marriage to trap him.
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33rd
Sunday
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Matt
25:14-30
The parable of the talents.
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Mark
13:4-32
Sings of the end of time, including
persecutions and tribulations, as well as the coming of the Son of Man.
Warning of not being deceived and remaining vigilant.
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Luke
21:5-19
Jesus’ prophecy on the destruction of
the Temple, the sings of the end of time, and coming of the persecution
toward the end.
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34th
Sunday – Christ the King Sunday
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Matt
25:31-46
The judgements at the end of time.
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John
18:33-37
Pilate asks Jesus if he is the king of
the Jews.
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Luke
23:35-43
Jesus was mocked as the king of the
Jews but the other criminal recognized him as God and his Kingdom. To him,
Jesus revealed that the Kingdom is paradise, saying, “today you will be with me in Paradise”.
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Because of a
juxtaposition to be made between the last three Sunday Gospel readings of a
liturgical year of all cycles and Gospel narrative corresponding to the Holy
Week, reflecting the last week of Jesus’ life in Jerusalem provides a good
context to appreciate what the month of Novermber is about, especially the
Gospel readings of the last three Sundays of a liturgical year, as shown above
box.
On the first
day of the last week of his life, Jesus came to Jerusalem on riding a donkey,
fulfilling in these words in Zechariah 9:9, “Exult greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout for joy, O daughter Jerusalem!
Behold: your king is coming to you, a just savior is he, humble, and riding on
a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey”. The people of Jerusalem were
overjoyed to see Jesus as the prophesized messiah king and welcomed him, waving
palm branches, as reflected in the reading for Palm Sunday Procession (Matthew
21:1-11). However, to the religious leaders, whom Jesus was very critical of
their hypocrisy, the presence of Jesus in Jerusalem was more than nuisance.
The leaders
are indignant about why people of Jerusalem were praising him as a
king-messiah, cyring out, “Hosana in the highest”. In response to their
criticism on him, Jesus began confronting their hypocrisy, first with series of
parables: the parable of two sons (Matthew 21:28-32), the parable of the teant
vineyard workers (Matthew 21:33-46//Mark 12:1-12//Luke 20:9-19), the parable of
the wedding feast (Mattew 22:1-14//Luke 14:16-24). Obviously, the hypocrites
must have further agitated by Jesus’ confrontation. Then, they attempted to
entrap him in his own words by asking three tricky questions about, paying
taxes Caesar (Matthew 22:1-22//Mark 12:13-16//Luke 20:20-26), marriage and
resurrecton (Matthew 22:23-33//Mark 12:18-27//Luke 20:27-40), and the greatest
commandment (Matthew 22:34-40//Mark 12:28-31).
Upon fending
off these traps set by the hypocrites, Jesus goes on his offense against them
with seven woes (Matthew 23; Mark 12:38-39; Luke 20:4-46, 23:37-39, cf. Luke
13:34-35). Then, Jesus leaves the Temple area and began teaching his disciples
about the eschatological signs (Matthew 24//Mark 13//Luke 21:5-36). Because eschaton
will come at an unknown time and rather unexpectedly, Jesus further addresses
the importance of our preparedness for parousia
and accountability for the judgement at eschaton
through the parable of ten virgins (Matthew 25:1-13), the parable of the
talents (Matthew 25:14-30//Luke 19:12-27), and the parabolic discourse on the
sheep and the goats, addressing the criterion of the judgement (Matthew
25:31-46).
When he
finished the discourse on eschaton,
Jesus indicates that his death is nearing, while the leards of the hypocrites are
finalizing their plan to kill him,, while Passover fast approaching (Matthew
26:1-5//Mark 14:1-2//Luke 22:1-2). Then, Jesus goes to Bethany and receives
anointing by a faithful and caring woman (Matthew 26:6-13//Mark 14:3-9, cf John
12:1-8, Luke 7:37-38).
Judas, who
complains about the expensive ointment used for Jesus’ anointing at Bethany
began working on his plan to “sell” Jesus for money (Matthew 26:14-16//Mark
14:10-11//Luke 22:1-6), and at the sundown of the following day, to start the
Jewish feast of the Unleaened Bread, Jesus hosts the Passover Sedar, known as
the Last Supper or the Lord’s Supper and implemented the Sacrament of the Holy
Eucharist (Matthew 26:17-35//Mark 14:12-31//Luke 22:7-38).
Following
the Last Supper, Jesus began to enter into his Passion, on his road to Calvary,
with his agonizing prayer in Gethsemane by Mount Olives (Matthew 26:36-46//Mark
14:32-42//Luke 22:40-46). After this prayer, Jesus was arrested and brought
first to the Sanhedrin and then to Pilate for trial (Matthew 26:47-27:26//Mark
14:43-15:15//Luke 22:47-23:25). During this time, Peter disowns Jesus three
times (Matthew 26:69-75//Mark 14:66-72//Luke 22:55-62; John 18:12-18, 25-27)
and Judas hangs himself (Matthew 27:1-10).
Then, the soldiers took Jesus, mockinghig him as king of the Jews
(Matthew 27:27-31//Mark 15:16-20).
Finally, the
soldiers put Jesus on the Cross, and Jesus was put to death and died at 3
o’clock in the afternoon (Matthew 27:32-56//Mark 15:16-41//Luke 23:26-43//John
19:17-37), fulfilling the prophecy in Isaiah 53:12.
In the above
context of the final week of Jesus’ life in Jerusalem: from his triumphant
entry as the king-messiah in the city to his humiliating death as the king of
the Jews on the Cross, the Gospel narratives for the last three Sundays of a
liturigical year on all cycles are drawn. Chronologically, what comes first is
the Gospel reading for the 32nd Sunday on Cycle C (Luke 20:27-38),
in which hypocrites tried to trap Jesus in his own words. The way Jesus
responded bears an important teaching on eschaton,
in particular, relating to these words of Jesus, “For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who beholds the Son
and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I myself will raise him up on
the last day”(John 6:40). The last day
in the New Testament Greek is “ἐσχάτῃ ἡμέρᾳ.”(eschate hemera). Thus, Jesus tells us that we will
be like angels, upon resurrection, and be transcended beyond an earthly bliss,
such as matrimony at eschaton (ἔσχατον).
The last event among these readings is found in the Gospel raeding for the 34th
Sunday on Cycle C (Luke 23:35-43), in which Jesus reveals that his Kingdom is Παραδείσῳ (paradeiso), namely, Paradiso, to the criminal, who said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your
kingdom”(Luke 23:42).
In fact, an end of liturgical year eschatological Sunday Gospel readings
spectrum is framed by the 32nd Sunday Gospel reading on Cycle C
(Luke 20:27-38) and the 34th Sunday Gospel reading on Cycle C (Luke
23:35-42). All other Suday Gospel readings chronologically fit inbetween these
two.
On Cycle A, all the three Sunday Gospel readings from Matthew 25 echoe
Jesus’ teaching on the sings of eschato, including persecution, and how we
prepare ourselves for that time to come in Matthew 24. Both the parable of the
virgins (Matthew
25:1-13) and the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30) remind us that we
will be judged upon parousia at eschaton, based on our preparedness for
that time. These Gospel narratives also tell us that those who are regarded as
well-prepared by Christ will be in the state of joy with him. Namely, this
foretells that those who understand Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 24 (Mark 13;
Luke 21:5-36) are bound for Paradiso,
where there is eternal joy. The Gospel reading for the last Sunday on Cyle A,
Matthew 25:31-46, zeros in on the judgement. It reminds us that Christ will
retur to judge to select those whom he will take with him to his Paradiso. A criterion for the judgement
in this narrative is doing the works of mercy, especially to those who are
least among us. As Pope Francis often cites these words of Jesus, “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful”(Luke
6:36) on the Jubilee Year of Mercy, we need to exercise mercy toward in loving
one another and our neighbors, especially those whom we do not expect a return
of our love.
On Cycle B,
the Gospel reading for the 32nd Sunday, Mark 12:38-44, is about
Jesus’ denounciation of the religious leaders’ hypocricy, in contrasting with
the humility and devotion of a poor widow in the Temple. Then, the 33rd
Sunday Gospel narrative, Mark 13:4-32, addresses signs of eschato, such as false teachers on this matter, persecutions, and
tribulations. These are certainly freightening to us, and Jesus understands.
That is why he encourages us not to be fooled by false teachings on eschaton so that we will not be so
anxious about parousia. He also
assures that we will be fine in m nduring persecutios and tribulations as long
as we do what Jesus tells in preparing ourselves for parousia at eschaton. In
a way, to put it in light of Dante’s Dive Comedy, this is like enduring the
sate of Purgatorio, where truly
faithful followers of Christ are refined by building strong character through
endurance, reflecting Paul’s words in Romans 5:1-5. After all, we will grow in
hope, as we endure persecutions and tribulations, through Purgatorio upon leaving Inferno.
Then, the Gospel reading for the 34th (Christ the King) Sunday
(Matthew 18:33-37) focuses on the kingship of Christ, along Pilate’s struggle
with the criminal charge of Jesus as king of the Jews. This Gospel narrative
reminds us that Pilate could not understand the true kingship of Jesus as the
Christ. This reality of being unable to see Jesus as the King of Heaven, which
is Paradisco, is Inferno, to put it in Dante’s Divine Comedy.
On Cycle C,
the 32nd Sunday Gospel reading (Luke 20:27-38) addresses how Jesus
handled one of the three traps that the hypocrites set up against Jesus to
catch him in his own words, though Luke’s Gospel only lists two: paying taxes
to Caesar (20:20-26)//Matthew 22:15-22//Mark 12:13-17) and the resurrection and
marriage (20:27-38//Matthew 22:23-33//Mark 12:18-27) . The other one is about the greatest
commandment (Matthew 22:34-40//Mark 12:28-31). The tricky question in this 32nd
Sunday Gospel was about the status of marriage at the resurrection. While the
hypocrites, in this case, some Saddhucees, were obsessed with the status of
marriage at the resurrection, as their thinking was confined to dualism, Jesus
addressed this matter from a different perspective. Though the hypocrites’
focus was on the marriage, Jesus’ focus was on the resurrection. He basically
argued that the hypocrites’ obsessive concerns about the stateus of marriage
upon the resurrection is rather nonsense, because the new order that comed with
the resurrection transcends earthly orders, including marriage. Then, Jesus
further argued and emphasized the eternal life that the resurrection is to
prove beyond biological death. Therefore, this narrative gives an
eschatological implication through Jesus’ argument on the resurrection, thus,
it is fit to be read on the 32nd Sunday. However, if your focus is
on the status of marriage, like the Sadducees, then, you may find it difficult
to see why this reading is for this occasion.
The Gospel
reading for the 33nd Sunday on Cycle B, Luke 21:5-19, is taken from the first
half part of Jesus’ eschatological discourse (21:-36). The Sunday Gospel
passage, in particular, addresses persecutions and tributions, as well as
global geopolitical chaos, as eschatological sings. These are certainly
freightening. However, it is important to note that Jesus assures that the
faithful will not perish in these afflictions, stating, “But not a hair of your head will perish. By standing firm you will gain
life”(Luke 21:18-19). This is to say that thos who endure persecutions and
triulations will enjoy salvation, given its corresponding statement in Mark
13;13, “But one who perseveres to the end
will be saved”. In fact, those who
stand firm and gain (eternal) life (21:19), ones who enjoy salvation (Mark
13:13), are like the words of Jesus that never pass away, though heaven and
earth will pass away at eschaton
(Matthew 24:34). Further more, these are the ones who stand before the Lamb,
waving palm branches, wearing white robes, washed white with the Lamb’s blood,
as they have endured tribulations with their faith in Christ, led to enjoy the
springs of life-giving water (Revelation 7:9-17), as read on All Saints Day to
begin the month of November. Therefore, the Gospel reading for the 33rd
Sunday on Cycle B (Luke 21:5-19), tells us that those who have endured the
transition from Inferno, where
anti-Christ may have strong influence and hypocrisies are rampant, through Purgatorio, where tribulations and chaos
shake the order of Inferno to bring forth the new heavenly order, are entitled
to Purgatorio, where the words of Christ, which are eternal, dictates and there
are abundant life-giving resources to enjoy. Then, finally, on the 34th
Sunday, the Gospel reading (Luke 23:35-43) puts an explicit focus focus on the
kingship of Jesus as the Christ. It reflects the struggle to acknowledge Jesus
as the King in Inferno, as indicated
in how Jesus was mocked and crucified to die for being the king of the Jews.
However, even in Inferno, the Gospel
narrative shows a silver lighning by depicting the criminal, who is crucified
next to Jesus, recognizing Jesus as the Christ and asked him to remembet him
when he comes to his Kingdom. Immediately, Jesus implicated Paradiso to him for acknowledging his
Kingship.
Suerveying
all the Gospel readings for the last three Sundays of a liturgical year on all
cycles, which are chronologically framed within Jesus’ last week of life in
Jerusalem, we can extract progressively eschatological tone , guiding our attention
from Inferno
to Purgatorio and to Paradiso. While this is one way to
characterize the month of November, during which a liturgical year usually
ends, we can spend this month in comtemplating our spiritual transformative
journey from Inferno, where we are
drifted away from God, to Paradiso,
where God is, through the purification process of Purgatorio. The process of Purgatorio
can be juxtaposed to the tribulations and persecutions that Jesus describes in
the 33rd Sunday Gospel reading on Cycle B (Mark 13:4-32) and on
Cycle C (Luke 21:5-19). These may also be understood as the seven-seal
judgements in Revelation 6-7, the seven-trumpet judgements in Revelation 8-9,
and the seven-bowl judgements in Revelation 16, as well as the tribulation
mentioned in Revelation 7:9-17.
The state of
sins, where people think and acts on their own ego, rathere than in accordance
with God’s will, is characterized by the hypocrisy that Jesus challenges and
rebukes in the 32nd Sunday Gosepel readings on Cycle B (Mark
12:38-44) and on Cycle C(Luke 20:27-38). This state is Inferno, from which we must exit, with realization that we have
drifted away from God as we have given ourselves to Satan’s tricks, resulting
in sins. For Dante, Inferno was where
he woke up to this reality and felt his need to journey back to God, who
represents Paradiso. Likewise, we
begin the month of Novemember in remembering all Saints who are with God in Paradiso, also remembering all souls in Purgatorio, preparing to follow the Saints,
on the second day of the month.
The Gospel
readings for the last three Sundays on Cycle A (Matthew 25:1-13, 14-30, 31-46)
also reflects Purgatorio, though
addressed to those who are still in Inferno,
preparing to embark on “Exodus”. What was Exodus to the Israelites, Eggypt can
be compared to Inferno, while the
Exodus journey to Purgatorio, and the
Promised Land over the Jordan River as Paradiso,
if we can compare Eden to the Promised Land. However, our purgatorial “Exodus”
from Inferno to Paradiso are transcendental, not bound by any geographical and
chronological factor. For this reason, Jesus wants us to remain vigilant and
work hard to be ready for parousia at
eschaton, as reflected in these
Gospel narratives from Matthew 25.
Finally, the
Gospel readings for the 34th Sunday on Cycle B (John 18:33-37) and
on Cycle C (Luke 23:35-43) are pointing out Paradiso
by reflecting on the kingship of Jesus. However, there is an ironical contrast
between the way Inferno recognizes the kingship of Jesus (reflected in John
18:33-37) and the salvific kingship of Jesus (Luke 23:35-43). The fact that
Jesus was tortured in a very denigrating way to death by crucifixion as the
king of the Jews represents the anti-Christ problem in Inferno. It is the state where many people do not recognize Jesus
as the Christ the King. However, one of the criminals, crucified along Jesus,
said, “"Jesus, remember me when you
come into your kingdom”(Luke 23:42) , and Jesus immediate responded, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me
in Paradise” (Luke 23:44). This is very important to note as this exchange
between crucified Jesus and the crucified criminal reminds us of our salvific
hope – our hope to be led to Paradiso,
though we are still in the state of Inferno,
where anti-Chrisrt forces in the world are keeping may people from seeing Jesus
as the King from Paradiso, as such
enemies of Christ, namely the hypocrite leaders in Jerusalem, kept people from
seeing Jesus as Messianic King, prophesized in Zechariah 9:9, but making them
see him as a threat, “king of the Jews”. In this Inferno, do we hear Jesus’ words and recognize him as the King or
do we hear anti-Christ telling him as a threat, like “king of the Jews”? If we
hear Jesus, then, we will be like the criminal who said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom”(Luke 23:42) and
be bound for Paradiso, where Jesuus
rules as the King.
We are, in
fact, the Communion of the Saints. It means that whether we are in Inferno or our souls are in Purgatory, we are in communion with
those who have made it to Paradiso. As Dante realized his desire to be with God
in Paradiso while in Inferno, during the month of November,
we, too, recognize our deep desire to journey to Paradiso, though we must endure Purgatorio,
so that we will be with God and share His eternal joy, together with God and
with all Saints. Let us look forward to
meeting our King of Paradiso and
sharing his joy!
