Tuesday, 25 November 2025 - 34th week, odd year
Homily
During this last week of the liturgical year, the lectionary keeps us in suspense on two levels: both in the prophecies of the Book of Daniel and in the Gospel, where today and in the days that follow we have various successive parts of Jesus' great eschatological discourse, which in Luke's Gospel is obviously centred on Jerusalem and more particularly on the Temple.
In the first reading, Daniel explains to King Nebuchadnezzar the premonitory dream that the latter had. We perceive in it the innate weakness of all empires and of all human greatness. Human beings are born of clay and will return to clay, despite all the silver or gold with which they may adorn themselves during their earthly existence. Fortunately, there is a spirit within human beings, a soul that transcends both this transience and this glory. They have within them a seed of eternity, and this seed of eternity is the only one truly worth cultivating.
The full meaning of today's Gospel will only be revealed to us at the end of the story. So let us not be like those who, when reading a novel, immediately skip to the end to see how the story ends. Let us be content to meditate on the part of the discourse that is given to us today. The story begins with the disciples' admiration. They admire two things: first, the material beauty of the temple, and second, the gifts of the faithful. Jesus then tells them that all this will one day be destroyed, which for a Jew meant the end of time. That is why the disciples ask Jesus two questions: a) when will this happen? and b) what will be the sign that precedes it?
Later this week, we will see that Jesus does not really mean the end of the world in the sense that the universe will be destroyed and cease to exist. In his first answer, which we will look at today, he simply warns them against all the false prophecies that could announce the return of the Messiah and the end of time. Do not believe any of it, says Jesus.
Moreover, Jesus warns them against the temptation to see the announcement of the end of the world in wars and natural disasters. All these things must happen, says Jesus. But this is not the end of the world.
So what does the expression ‘end of the world’ mean? The rest of the text will give us the answer in the coming days. Let us wait patiently!
Armand Veilleux
- Today we also celebrate the memorial of Saint Catherine of Alexandria