OT XXXIII: Dn 12:1-3; Heb 10:11-14, 18; Mk 13:24-32

 These words of our Lord were spoken at the very end of his earthly life, just a few days before his crucifixion. And at the end of the age of the Church, Christ will return to bring all human history to its culmination. He actually finishes the discourse by saying: “Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come.” We do not know, because we do not need to know.

God has seen fit to assure us that history has a purpose, and that it will come to an end. Through the ages, many Christians have become obsessed with the details of how and when this will occur.

There are numerous predictions about the end of the world. The French "prophet" and astrologer Nostradamus (1503-1566), foretold that the world would end when Easter fell on April 25. This happened in 1666, 1734, 1886 and 1943. In 1379, St. Vincent Ferrer (1350-1419), a Spanish Dominican monk predicted the demise of the world in AD 3936. The Jehovah's Witnesses predicted the "end of the world” in 1914, 1918 and 1974. Many more such failed predictions we had seen.  

 Jesus said: "But as for that day or hour, nobody knows it." Hence he asks us to be prepared. None of us are guaranteed our next breath.

God will be bringing things to a triumphant end, and His Truth, Love, and Justice will prevail forever.  But we must always be well prepared to face our judgment because we do not know the day nor the hour, either of the ending of the world or of our own call from this life.  Hence, true disciples are to watch and wait in a state of readiness.  Instead of worrying about the end-time events, we are asked to live every day of our lives in loving God in Himself and as living in others through our committed service to them.  Thus, we will enter into a deeper relationship with God, which will continue when we pass through death into a different kind of life.

 

Through the parable of the fig tree, Jesus warns us all to read the “signs of the time,” and reminds us that we must be ever prepared to give an account of our lives to Jesus our Judge, because we cannot know “either the day or the hour” of our own death or of His final coming. When or how this world will end is of no great importance to us; what is important is that we shall leave this world very soon and our eternity will depend on the state of our consciences at the moment of our departure.

Some modern critics say that Jesus, being so meek and humble, would not have told these harsh things. But in fact, Jesus did say these things, and he said them precisely because of his deep love for us. Christ knows that the battle between good and evil will continue throughout human history. But he also knows that this ongoing battle will provide the opportunity for his grace to spread throughout the world.

 

We profess our belief in these truths every Sunday, when we say “he will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his Kingdom will have no end.”

Since this is the way things are, it would have been cruel and heartless for Jesus not to tell us about it. Telling us about it gives us a chance to organize our lives accordingly, to build our lives on the everlasting rock of Christ our Savior: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” Jesus doesn’t speak about these events in order to scare us, but in order to motivate us.  

It is so easy to fall into a purely natural outlook on life, getting so wrapped up in our daily to-do lists that we forget the big picture, and we neglect our friendship with Christ. Jesus knows that nothing could be worse for our happiness, now and forever – and that is what interests him most. Even his predictions of the end of the world, then, are a reminder of his endless love.

Jesus doesn't tell us when the end of the world will come, because he wants us to live each day actively, vibrantly and fully. One excellent way to do that is to give a bigger place in our lives to the Holy Eucharist.

He is thinking of us all the time, continuing to offer himself as a sacrifice to the Father for our sake. And we can come and visit him at any time, for five minutes or for five hours, sharing our joys and sorrows, begging for his help, praying and meditating, or simply sitting and letting his grace penetrate our minds and hearts. Frequent Holy Communion and frequent visits to the Eucharist help us keep our lives headed in the right direction - in Christ's direction. And if we do that, we will be ready at every moment, for the end of the world, whenever it happens to occur. He taught us, “In the world you have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (Jn 16:33). Today Jesus is asking us not to take extraordinary measures to face the end of time but to persevere in our faith and trust in him.