33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time – C
November 16, 2025 8:30
Our Lady of Grace Parish, Parkton
Contents of a Dead Man’s Pocket
Some years ago, I came across a short story titled Contents of a Dead Man’s Pocket – Contents of a Dead Man’s Pocket.
In the story, a man named Tom has started putting together a proposal for the supermarket chain he works for. He has put an outline of his proposal and some data on a yellow sheet of paper.
Tom thinks that the proposal could lead to a big promotion. Well, one evening, his wife Clara goes out to a movie.
Tom doesn’t go because he wants to work on his proposal. Suddenly, a breeze blows the yellow piece of paper off of the desk and out the window of the apartment.
The paper becomes lodged on the brick ledge just below Tom’s reach – eleven stories up. Tom convinces himself that he can retrieve the paper.
So, he carefully makes his way out of the apartment window and onto the ledge. He moves slowly and then manages to stoop down, grab the yellow paper, and stuff it into his pocket.
Tom carefully shuffles back to the window, but it has slipped closed and he can’t pry it open. He is trapped on the narrow brick ledge, eleven stories above Lexington Avenue in New York.
Tom’s calls for help are not heard, and Clara won’t be home for several hours. He starts thinking about dying and feels afraid and angry.
Tom realizes that they will find just one thing in his pocket – the yellow sheet of paper. His notes will make no sense to anyone else.
Tom thinks of the hours and days he has spent away from his wife. He thinks of his ambition and career and his lack of attention to other things – things that now seem so much more important.
He feels afraid and angry. He judges that he has wasted his life.
The Gospel and Now
Jesus does not want us to waste our lives as Tom, in the story, was afraid he had done.
Instead, Jesus wants us to live today, the present, in the best way we can. He wants us to attend to the important things of life right now.
That’s his point in this gospel. Jesus speaks of all kinds of frightful signs and events that will come at some unknown time.
But he doesn’t want us to get caught up in forecasting an end-time and living with fear. Instead, he is trying to shake us up and focus on the present.
Tend to the important things of life right now and that will be the way to be ready for that unknown future moment. That is Jesus’ point.
Making Now Special
Now, to do this, I want to ask each of us to do three things this week – three things to do sometime this week and I think they will be easy to remember.
First, is there something from the past I need to settle? An apology that I need to make or a sin I need to have forgiven?
If there is something, go to the other person involved or to a priest for confession or whatever is appropriate for the matter. Settle one thing from the past and get that weight off of you.
Second, is there some anxiety or worry about the future weighing you down? About health or finances or something else?
If there is, entrust that to God with a prayer of trust. Try to let God ease that anxiety or worry and get that weight off of you.
And third, with something from the past and the future dealt with, now really live the present. Do something good for one person in your life – your wife or husband or parent or child or close friend.
Maybe it will be a text message or phone call to let them know you are thinking about them and appreciating them. But do one thing to tend someone special and important in your life.
Conclusion
So, do these three things and you will not feel that you are wasting your life, as Tom in the short story feared.
And by the way, the story ended with Tom breaking the glass on the window and climbing back into the apartment. And the first thing he did was to forget the yellow paper and go to find his wife Clara at the movies.
