Here With Us (OT 33C)

33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year C | November 16, 2025

See today’s readings here. Video recordings of the Sunday evening Mass, where Fr. Brian regularly preaches, are available on Facebook at Delaware Koinonia. The archive of all of Fr. Brian’s homilies can be found here: Salesian Sermons

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I was living in Washington DC when the earthquake occurred in 2011.

Not exactly something I was prepared for living on the east coast.

And frankly, it wasn’t even that strong of an earthquake.

And yet, I remember the chaos it caused.

The fragility it exposed throughout our nation’s capitol.

The Washington Monument would be closed for years to repair the damage from that quake.

The National Cathedral suffered extensive damage, as gargoyles and parapets broke loose.

Water lines ruptured.  Cracks fissured across countless foundations of homes, businesses, and schools.

In just a moment, everything was upended.  And it would take years for the city to completely rebuild.  

I think of that moment every time I hear this Gospel reading.  How the end times will be marked with a series of catastrophes.

Events destined to bring a people to their knees.

Wars and insurrections.

Famine.  Plagues.  Earthquakes.

Persecution.  Division.  

I think of how generations have fearfully waited for this moment.  The moment when it would all fall apart.

But can I name the obvious.  Has there been a generation that has not experienced these things?

I mean I am only 40 years old and I have lived through a global pandemic.

I have watched scenes of war unfold in Afghanistan and Iraq, Ukraine and Gaza.

I have watched as government buildings have been flooded by rioting mobs around the globe.

I have witnessed political assassinations.  I have seen the pictures of children starving in refugee camps.  And the rubble left behind after earthquakes struck Haiti and Pakistan.

And yet, we are still here.

How many of us have not experienced the personal earthquake that has leveled our world to the ground?

Our finance is deported leaving us to raise 4 children on our own.

Our job is downsized and suddenly we do not have the money to both pay the bills and put food on the table.

The diagnosis comes back terminal.

We lose the baby.  We bury our child.  Our parent.  Our spouse. Our best friend.

Our house floods.  She walks out.  We are t-boned.  He hurts us.

And yet, we are still here.

We are still standing.  In this sacred space.  Surrounded by fellow travellers on this journey.

My friends, I know that it can often seem like the world is falling apart.  Our fears and anxieties seem amplified with every passing news cycle.

And for some of us, I know that we question every day how we can survive this.

But it is at this moment.  This present moment that God is here.

In storm and earthquake.  In war and sickness.  In death and destruction.

God is here.

Lifting us up.  Holding us together.

Enlivening our hearts.  Inspiring our courage.

Wiping away our tears.  Showing us the beauty.  Reminding us how to laugh.

God is here.

In word and sacrament.  In the hand of your loved one who grasps yours in this moment.

In music that calms the soul.  And the feel of a warm blanket pulled around our shoulders.

God is here in every choice we make for justice.  In every unacknowledged act of kindness.  In each genuine moment of gratitude.  In love freely received and shared.

My friends, I do not know when this earthly story will end.

But I do know that our God is writing it with us.  Right now.  Until the final chapter is proclaimed.

So let’s go forth.  To keep writing.  To keep living.  To keep loving.

May God be Praised.