Fr Daniel Antonio de Carvalho Ribeiro, SCJ
33rd SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (Mk 13:24-32)
MEDITATION ON THE SUNDAY GOSPEL
We are approaching the end of another liturgical year. Next week, with the Solemnity of Christ the King of the Universe, we will celebrate the last Sunday of this Catholic year. On this penultimate Sunday of Ordinary Time, the Church speaks to us about the second coming of Christ and the end of the present time. This theme is so important that Saint Thomas Aquinas wisely addresses it in his work Summa Theologica even before the treatise on Christian virtues. According to the saint, our actions must be destined for an end, and for believers this end is eternal bliss. Therefore, even before reflecting on the Christian virtues, known as the means to achieve this blessedness, he addresses the second coming of Christ and eternal life, the true reason for living virtuously.
In the face of extremes in understanding the subject, whether by seeing everything in a material way, strictly as narrated in the gospel, or by denying the return of Christ, the Church teaches us that there will be a second coming of Christ that will be marked by the fullness of the Kingdom of God, already partially present since the Incarnation of the Word, where there will be a new heaven and a new earth. On this day, what the Church calls universal judgment will take place. It is worth remembering that our future will be decided at the moment of our death in the so-called particular judgment (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1021-1022), but the fullness of the Kingdom of God, the consummation of time and the moment when we receive an immortal body will only occur at the end of time. Also, the souls of the faithful departed who have already met with God and had their eternal destiny decided at the moment of death, through the particular judgment, with the second coming of Christ will receive an immortal body to live the glory of God or eternal condemnation (CCC, 1038-1041).
Several people ask when the second coming of Christ narrated in this Sunday’s gospel will be. The answer is simple and is expressed in the gospel itself: only God knows this date (cf. Mc 13, 32). There are Catholics who claim that the wars, injustices and suffering of the present time demonstrate that we are in the period announced by the gospel, therefore the coming of Christ is imminent. It is unquestionable that there are countless signs presented in the gospel about the second and definitive coming of Christ experienced in current times. However, in the past it was no different. There were places in Europe where, during the end of the Middle Ages, a large part of the population died due to the Black Death and the suffering was certainly no less than that of today, but that was not yet the moment of Jesus’ glorious return. Therefore, it is not up to us to deduce the moment of Christ’s return and the end of times, but only to evaluate the signs of the present times and prepare daily for that day, as we can draw one certainty from the teaching that Christ gives us: this date is known only to God.
There are those who try to downplay the seriousness of this moment of personal encounter with the Lord, claiming that we will be reincarnated again and again until we reach our fullness and go live with God. This teaching is somewhat seductive, because it diminishes human responsibility in this present life, showing that after death we will have “other opportunities” to correct what we did not do in our present life. Faced with this seduction and confusion caused in the minds of many Catholics, it is best to keep in our hearts the clear words of Sacred Scripture: “Just as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many; and to those who eagerly await him he will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to bring salvation” (Hebrews 9:28).
We Catholics believe that the Kingdom of God will be consummated with the second coming of Christ, but we also believe that He is already among us. This should be a sufficient reason for joy to prepare ourselves well for the consummation of the great day of our definitive encounter with God. The signs narrated in today’s Gospel and the wait for this day should not be a reason for fear and apprehension, but rather for hope. Hope because God will have the final word in the face of the injustices and chaos that we see in the present world. This is so clear in the lives of the saints that Saint Gregory of Nyssa never tired of speaking about the importance of human divinization (theosis). According to this saint, the human being, created in the image and likeness of God, was born to be divine. Naturally, not by nature, which belongs only to God, but by our participation in the divine life that already begins here on earth.
We must prepare ourselves for Jesus’ return with an attitude of vigilance, but a vigilance without despair and fear. Those who are in the truth and trust in the Lord do not need to speculate about the day and details of His coming. Saint Augustine said that “those who are unconcerned await the Lord’s arrival calmly. If we feared His coming, what kind of love would we have?” Saint Philip Neri was once asked what he would do if he knew that the Lord would return that day. He laughed heartily and said that he would continue playing his game of billiards. This is the great lesson: God created us for Himself, and we must prepare ourselves for when He calls us. This can only happen with our death or with the second coming of Jesus. What good would it be to know the day if we were not prepared? It is certainly better to trust patiently in the Lord, to live faithfully according to his teachings and to savour the Kingdom that is already partially present among us, because as Jesus promised us, He will never abandon us, He is always among us until the end of time (cf. Mt 28:20).
Follow
