33rd Sunday, Ordinary Time

 


33RD SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME 


Count it as a profound blessing, if you have a spouse who’s committed to you and also to the wider community (see Prov. 31:10-31). That’s the primary message being communicated in our first reading, taken from the Book of Proverbs. Meanwhile, in our Gospel passage, we venture into the area of disappointment. The problem has to do with employee number three; the level of productivity drops sharply when we train our focus on employee number three (see Matthew 25:14-30). Therefore note the contrast: a particular blessing is being celebrated in our first reading, and then in the Gospel we hear words of disappointment. 


What’s being outlined here? Essentially, this represents the flow of life. As your life unfolds, you find yourself alternating between blessings and disappointments. On Monday you’re counting your blessings; on Tuesday you’re wading through a fresh new wave of disappointment. That’s the flow of life. You do your best to appreciate the blessings. And you do your best to manage through the inevitable disappointments. Do you ever feel like giving up? We’ve all been there at one time or another. We begin to despair because the blessings are being eclipsed by the disappointments. It’s to the point where the disappointments now occupy your entire field of vision. You’re supposed to be a child of the light (see 1st Thess. 5:4-8). However, the darkness seems to be prevailing. 


If you can endure, if you can persevere, you’ll discover that it’s basically a question of positioning. No, the moon has not swallowed up the sun. Maybe it looked that way for a brief period. Yet, by waiting it out, now you get to behold the sun’s reemergence. Using a more down to earth example, imagine that you are visiting a Gothic cathedral, somewhere in Europe. Where you have Gothic cathedrals, you’re bound to have gargoyles. If you were to stand up close, getting nose-to-nose with one of those gargoyles, then the gargoyle would occupy your entire field of vision. The image would disturb you. It’s unattractive, it’s unappealing. You can simply remain in front of the gargoyle, or you can adjust your position. Stand back a few steps. By doing so, now your field of vision includes something more than just a gargoyle. The gargoyle is still there. But you’re seeing so much more. Now you’re able to perceive the majestic cathedral upon which the gargoyle is stationed. 


As mentioned previously, it’s a question of positioning. Furthermore, it also helps if you can keep yourself awake (1st Thess. 5:6). Staying awake means being aware of how it is that you happen to be positioned. When the disappointments have eclipsed the blessings, there is the option of waiting the situation out—as you would wait out a solar eclipse. Additionally, don’t overlook the option of stepping back. Adjust your vantage point. It just might be what it takes so that the blessings can be made to reappear. 

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