Thirty Second Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)
The Word This Week
Watch
early for wisdom: wise words, and ones that the foolish bridesmaids of the
Gospel should have taken to heart. This is the ultimate in putting off till
tomorrow..., since the reading is about the end of time, when the Son of Man
will come again. Then there will be no tomorrow. If a thing is worth doing,
its worth doing today. Quite often we contemplate the end of time with anxiety
and fear: this is not what God wants. Look at the Psalm, where we hear of
desperate longing, a thirst for the Lord, that cannot wait. We should not just
wait for the Lord with patient endurance, but with impatient longing: what
could we desire more than the coming of the Lord, the rising of the dead and an
eternity of joy and glory?
Notes for Readers
First Reading:
Wisdom 6:12-16
Theres
an unusual tone about this reading: it is enticing, encouraging, leading people
on in the search for wisdom. Nothing is stated clearly, in black and white, but
there is a poetic vagueness which is to tease the listener into looking for
this elusive thing called wisdom. The reader is alternately friendly, even
colloquial (Watch for her early, and you will have no trouble...) and
mysterious (Even to think about her is understanding fully grown...). The
reader must make sure that, however else you read this, what comes across is
that wisdom is worth having, and that it is waiting to be found. Take the
reading fairly slowly - some of the expression are quite complex and will take
a bit of sinking in. Read with great clarity, and a brightness and
attractiveness in your voice.
Second Reading:
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
This
is a truly amazing reading, one of the most powerful we encounter in the Sunday
scriptures. It is a bald and uncompromising statement of a central truth of our
faith: the resurrection of the dead. The most remarkable thing about this
passage is the clarity and detail with which Paul describes the scene: he
writes with absolute faith in the promises of the Lord Jesus. To read it well
will demand the same sort of faith - lock yourself away with this reading, and
repeat again and again these words: we believe that Jesus died and rose again,
and it will be the same for those who have died in Jesus. The deepest comfort
and hope of our faith is this: not some ethereal heaven, but a true rising to
life, body and soul, as we see in Jesus. Read with rock-solid conviction;
present these words to the congregation as a supreme expression of our faith in
the resurrection. Grab their attention, if necessary, by the power of your own
faith as you read.