COME, LORD JESUS!

XXXIII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Mark 13:24-32

Will the universe come to an end? If so, then when and how will it happen? To the first question, even scientists give an affirmative answer. As for the date and the manner of that event, the imagination goes wild. On that, Jesus was very clear to his disciples: “As for that day or hour, nobody knows it, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son; no one but the Father” (Mk 13:32). So we should not waste our time involving ourselves in guessing possible dates for the end of the world. Those who do that end up as a laughing stock.

Jesus said that “the powers in the heavens will be shaken” and there will be “a time of anguish” (Dan 12:1) or a time of “tribulation” (Mk 13:24). However, the stress is put on the coming of the Son of Man (that is Jesus Christ), who will come full of power and glory to gather his people and deliver them. For the faithful disciples of Jesus Christ, the end of the world will not be a moment of horror and terror, but a great time of joy, as they become partakers of the glorious victory of Christ. With his coming, Jesus Christ will bring in the New World, a new creation, where there will be no suffering and no tears, but only the joyous cries of victory, because the powers of oppression and death have disappeared and God will reign supreme, being “all in all” (1 Co 15:28).

Jesus advises us to pay attention to the signs of the Lord’s proximity so that we are prepared to answer his call and to welcome his coming. If he surprises us and finds us unprepared, we will be left to our own fate, far from him with whom there are life and salvation.

Christians look forward to that time with eagerness, which is well expressed in a very simple prayer at the end to the book of Revelation: “Come, Lord Jesus!” (Rev 22:20).

With the Psalmist, we pray: “Preserve me, God, I take refuge in you” (Ps 16:1)