The Son of Man will come again – whether or not we are ready to meet Him
Reflections on the readings for the Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time (November 18, 2018): DN 12:1-3; PS 16:5,8,9-10,11; HEB 10:11-14; MK 13:24-32
MISSIO offers “Preaching Mission,” as a homily help, providing connections to mission from the readings of Sundays, Feast Days and Holy Days.
As we approach the end of the liturgical year, Old and New Testament readings call our attention to the end of the world.
This is probably as unsettling a topic today as it was when the Book of Daniel and the Gospel according to Mark were written. Both mention signs that will occur before the final day. Many early Christians welcomed the idea of the Apocalypse and expected it to take place in their own time. Jesus, however, says that while He will come again, He will not reveal when that will be. Christ tells His disciples: “They will see ‘the Son of Man coming in the clouds’ with great power and glory, and then He will send out the angels and gather His elect from the four winds, from the end of the earth to the end of the sky.… But of that day or hour, no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (Mark 13:26-27, 32).
When the time chosen by the Father arrives for this world to reach its end, Christ will come the second time for the Final Judgment. Our Savior loves us and wants to bring every person who ever lived into heaven. But because God gave us free will, we choose for ourselves the kind of people we are. It is for us to accept or reject God’s grace and His will. It is for us to embrace His love and share it with our brothers and sisters – or not. Through our day-to-day thoughts, words and actions, we show our Lord whether or not we are His true disciples. All people face death and, ultimately, the verdict we have made for ourselves. So let us use today well and say, “Yes!” to God in time and in eternity.
