We’ve come to the last two weeks of the liturgical year. The
season of Advent begins just two weeks from now. And our scripture readings return, as they do
at this time every year to the last things, the end times—death, judgment,
heaven, hell, and eternity.
Our Lord’s discourse with the Apostles from St. Mark’s
Gospel today, takes place during the last week of Jesus’ life. He had entered Jerusalem for the last time,
come to the temple and taught there for the last time. And, after a busy day of teaching and
contending with the Pharisees and Sadducees in the Temple, Jesus and his
Apostles came to rest on the Mount of Olives.
There Jesus began to take up some pretty serious subject
matters. He began to discuss the end
times: the tribulations the Church would
face from the time of his Ascension to the time of his Second Coming. He spoke of the destruction of the Temple,
and earthquakes and wars and floods, of Christians beings persecuted for preaching
the Gospel. He said, “don’t be alarmed,
don’t lose your faith, when these things happen, they are but labor pains.”
Labor pains. They are signs that the old
world is coming to an end, and that the second coming of the Messiah is near.
He spoke of these future events with a sureness and clarity
that must have been alarming – if not frightening – for his disciples. He spoke about the end as if it’s right
around the corner. But exactly how long it would take, how much time would pass
between his ascension and second coming, he did not say. He just kept repeating over and over, “be
watchful, you do not know the day or the hour, be prepared, it can come when
you least expect it.”
Will our own earthly life come to an end before his coming
again? He did not say. For both events,
our death and our judgment, we must be prepared, by repenting of and confessing
our sins, receiving the flesh and blood of Christ as often as we can, and
living lives of righteousness, as best we can.
I cannot help but think of last night’s tragedies in
Paris. Normal people, like you and I,
went to the theater last night, went out to dinner with friends and family,
never expecting that terrorists would strike.
I prayed, and I hope you did too, that the Lord was merciful upon their
souls.
After speaking of the tribulations of the end times, Our
Lord spoke of the coming of the Son of Man and the gathering of the elect. When the Lord comes again, all of the living
and the dead from all generations of human history will stand before the Lord
and we will be judged. The elect will be
gathered to the eternal kingdom of heaven, and the damned will go to the
eternal fires of hell, forever. When will
this mighty event occur? “Of that day or hour, no one knows,” he said, “neither
the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”
There have been attempts throughout history to try to figure
out the day of the Lord’s coming. Some
have tried to decipher a hidden code within Scripture, or from astrological
events, or the events of world history.
The Lord says, the angels don’t know.
Their intellect is as vastly superior to ours, as our intellects are
superior to garden slugs. So, if the angels don’t know, it is not something
that we can figure out. So, don’t worry
about when it will happen, prepare yourselves, and assume that it could
happen any minute—even before the next star wars movie comes out!
Jesus explains not only that he will return, but how
he will return. “The sun will be
darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling
from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.” In Matthew’s
Gospel we hear that there will be the blowing of angelic trumpets. So, what will his second coming look like? It
won’t be in a hidden way, like the way he was born in Bethlehem, when he was
born into obscure poverty. His second
coming will be a glorious coming. Nature
will resound in a wondrous event that no one still living on earth will be able
to ignore. So don’t worry, even if you
are very heavy sleeper and he comes in the middle of the night, you won’t miss
it!
There is a great story where St. Charles Borromeo was
playing a game of billiards with several other bishops. While the game was
going on, one of the bishops posed a question.
He asked the group: “What would you do if you knew that the Lord would
return within the hour?” One bishop said:
“I should immediately fall to my knees in prayer, and pray for God’s mercy upon
me” Another declared: “I should at once make a confession of all my sins from
my whole life.” Various replies were made
by others who were present. St. Charles
kept silent and continued playing pool. Then question was addressed to him, “What
would you do if you knew that the Lord would return within the hour?” St. Charles
answered: “I should quietly continue the game, because I began it with the
intention of honoring God.”
St. Charles, because he was right with God, his life in
order, his priorities straight, his sins confessed, was able to confidently
face the prospect of the imminent coming of Christ, not only with peace, but
with joy. St. Charles was not the sort
of man to go to bed with a guilty conscience—he did not carry with him the burden
of unconfessed sins. Because he was
right with God, in fact, because he began everything he did with the intention
of honoring God, he was able to live in the freedom which God wants for all of
us.
St. Charles would have been able to recite right along with
today’s Psalm: “Therefore my heart is glad and my soul rejoices, my body, too,
abides in confidence?” Does you abide in confidence? Are you prepared? Are your
sins forgiven? When was the last time, you made a good confession? Are you in
the habit of beginning each of your endeavors with the intention of honoring
God above all else?
At the end of history, Jesus’ Second Coming will involve the
destruction of the fallen world so as to make way for a new creation. Now, in the midst of history, we have to be
willing to allow his grace to destroy our fallen, self-centered tendencies in
order to make way for the new life of grace and charity. We must repent of our
sins, and call others to repentance and right relationship with God.
The Lord promises that if we do, we will not regret it; for
as the First Reading puts it, the wise will shine brightly, and those who lead
the many to justice, shall be like the stars forever. Today, and every day, let
us put the Lord first in our lives, repent of our sins, and do everything for
the glory of God and salvation of souls.
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