Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Eschatology - the "last things" - is the order of the day on this next to the last Sunday of Pentecost. Whenever there are twenty-six or more Sundays in Pentecost, the twenty-sixth Sunday after Pentecost has to be one of the last three Sundays of the cycle/season; it is automatically eschatological by nature of its relationship to Christ the King Sunday (In some years, it will be Christ the King Sunday), but also by the eschatological theme of the Gospel for the Day in Mark's Gospel. As was mentioned earlier, the thirteenth chapter of St. Mark is considered to be the heart of his Gospel.