25 “There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and
on earth nations will be in dismay, perplexed by the roaring of the sea
and the waves.
26 People will die of fright in anticipation of what is coming upon
the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
27 And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with
power and great glory.
28 But when these signs begin to happen, stand erect and raise your
heads because your redemption is at hand.”
34 “Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing
and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life, and that day catch you
by surprise
35 like a trap. For that day will assault everyone who lives on
the face of the earth.
36 Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength
to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son
of Man.”
When I was growing up in America, we seemed to have people who had their own particular private interpretation of the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. There were many sincere people who believed that Jesus would indeed return in their life times. During my earliest years of hearing “prophetic” preaching by high powered evangelists, they impressed me too, with the expectation of the soon coming of Jesus Christ to set all thing right again. Was it not St. Peter himself who said to us?
2 Peter 3:12-13“. . .waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved in flames and the elements melted by fire. But according to his promise we await new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.”
Is this not a human trait for those who endure suffering and the desire for heavenly things? Is this not what we have been called to do -- to wait for that coming of our Lord Jesus Christ for that glory that saints and angels enjoy? Do we not want to see our Blessed Mother exalted in the heavenly places, as Jesus has revealed her in the Revelation of St. John, (Revelation 12)?
The Nicene Creed, we recite nearly every Mass, speaks to the faithful in Christ of the “coming” (parousia) of Jesus and that Day of God.
It is because Jesus died for our sins, was buried and rose from the
dead that we have this wonderful blessed hope in his second coming.
“For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered, died, and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in fulfillment of the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.”
Jesus did all of this, because he fulfilled completely all that the Father sent him to do according to the plan and purpose in the Holy Trinity. Then, there was Mary who lived in the hope of this resurrection and exaltation of her Son, Jesus. From the moment of the annunciation by the angel Gabriel of Immanuel, and, then the birth of her Son, through the ministry of her Son to the crucifixion, resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit and birth of the Church in the upper room, Mary observed and pondered all these things in her heart.
Mary’s Hope is our Hope. She would say, today, “Do whatever he tells you.”
Today, Jesus tells us to watch and be sober.
With St. Paul, he says to us not to be drunk with wine, in which is excess, but, he tells us to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Jesus tells that we prepare for the coming of Jesus. Jesus does not call us to be curious, or, even students of the second coming of Christ. Jesus does not call us to be enthusiasts. The Lord Jesus Christ calls us to be prepared!
How do we prepare for Jesus’ coming?
We prepare through prayer.
Are we not being called by our Lord and the Blessed Mother to draw close to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Blessed Hope of Mary when we pray the mysteries of the Rosary?
Are we not close to Jesus when we pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy?
These are not mechanical prayers. They should never be mechanical. These are meaningful and deep reflections upon how we ought to live for Christ with that thought evermore upon our hearts and lips -- “Do whatever he tells you.”
All around us is a worldly pilosophy, a so called, post-modernistic era of philosophy, a “new truth,” an era that desires to throw out all absolutes and call mankind back to a moral relativism, where all do what is “right” in their own eyes. All around the Church there are the roaring sea waves that crash against all things moral, even against the Bark of Peter, the Church. Nevertheless, Jesus said to St. Peter that, the gates of hell would not prevail against the Church that Jesus would build! Shall we not be thankful for this Hope we have in Jesus, and by that, because of Jesus, our Mother, Mary?
So sure is our Hope in Christ that he has already lifted the vail and shown us the exaltation and coronation of our Mother. Thus, we will share in his brightness of Glory.
Jesus tells us to pray constantly.
We are to pray for the strength to escape whatever is in prospect, and to stand secure before the Son of Man.
How easily are we distracted with indulgent behavior, drunkenness and worldly cares?
However, it need never be so, because greater is Christ in you, than,
the evil one of this age. It is not by might, nor by our power, but,
by and through the blessed Holy Spirit. As trials come our way, we
have the sure knowledge and hope that Jesus is the Way!
As truths crumble into the dust, we have the assurance through prayer
that Jesus Christ is the Truth.
As death seems imminent, we have the assurance in Christ that Jesus Christ is the Life!
We know this, because Jesus through St. John, showed us the vision of
the Blessed Virgin in Heaven, crowned in Glory.
1 A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun,
with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.
2 She was with child and wailed aloud in pain as she labored to
give birth.
3 Then another sign appeared in the sky; it was a huge red dragon,
with seven heads and ten horns, and on its heads were seven diadems.
4 Its tail swept away a third of the stars in the sky and hurled
them down to the earth. Then the dragon stood before the woman about to
give birth, to devour her child when she gave birth.
5 She gave birth to a son, a male child, destined to rule all the
nations with an iron rod. Her child was caught up to God and his throne.
6 The woman herself fled into the desert where she had a place prepared
by God, that there she might be taken care of for twelve hundred and sixty
days.
7 Then war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels battled against
the dragon. The dragon and its angels fought back,
8 but they did not prevail and there was no longer any place for
them in heaven.
9 The huge dragon, the ancient serpent, who is called the Devil
and Satan, who deceived the whole world, was thrown down to earth, and
its angels were thrown down with it.
10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
“Now have salvation and power come,
and the kingdom of our God
and the authority of his Anointed.
For the accuser of our brothers is cast out,
who accuses them before our God day and night.
11 They conquered him by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony;
love for life did not deter them from death.
What a terrible set of circumstances we see in these passages. What a glorious future is ours, when Jesus and Mary focus us upon prayer. More is done through prayer than any other activity of our lives. Without faith pleasing God is impossible. Without prayer, being victorious in Jesus Christ is practically impossible.
Therefore, whatever he says do it.
Prayer is the key to all things in Christ.
Deus et Sanctissma.
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1. The New American Bible (Catholic Edition) was used.