• First Reading. Daniel 12:1-3. In the first reading, a holy man sees a vision from God. God’s faithful people will rise to eternal life. This is part of a vision of the prophet Daniel about the end of time. It introduces the belief in a resurrection of the dead and in retribution after death.

• Second Reading. Hebrews 10:11, 14, 18. In the second reading, we are reminded that Christ’s sacrifice has accomplished the forgiveness of all sins. We have been consecrated to his Father and made perfect in God’s sight. This reading insists on the superiority of Christ’s sacrifice over all the sacrifices of the Old Law.

• Gospel. Mark 13:24-32. In the Gospel, Jesus teaches about the signs that will point to the coming end of the age. The talks about the second coming of Christ, the time of which is known only to God.

In the Broadway musical, “A Little Night Music,” the grandmother proposes a toast” “To life,” she says. Everyone at the dinner party enthusiastically joins her in the toast to life. Then she spoils the party. She proposed a second toast, saying, “And to the only other reality—death!” The others cannot join her in this toast. They are embarrassed, uncomfortable. A pall of gloom falls over this party and you feel it for the rest of the evening. The guests are unable to face the “other reality.” Are we able to face these two realities – life and death in our life???

Fr. Krzysztof Rusin