Homily for Tuesday of the 34th Week in Ordinary Time

As we approach the end of the liturgical year, the readings focus on the darker side of human experience, such as destruction, loss, conflict, and deception. It seems like the liturgy is in harmony with these dark days of the end of November.

This coming weekend, we will start a new liturgical year by celebrating the first Sunday of Advent. Even though the days will remain dark, the liturgical readings will take on a much brighter tone as they invite us to look forward to the coming of the light.

In today's Gospel passage, Jesus talks about the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem and other dark events. No one looking at the Temple in Jerusalem in Jesus' day could imagine its destruction. After all, it had taken almost fifty years to build and was still unfinished in the time of Jesus. But even the strongest and finest buildings only last so long.

Today's Gospel warns us not to become attached to things that do not last. Instead, we should connect ourselves to the One who says of Himself in Matthew's Gospel that "something greater than the Temple is here." When everything else fails, disappears, and turns to dust, He endures, and through our relationship with Him, we endure.