(posted belatedly because smart suddenly decided to suspend our subscription for a week)
The end of time is sure to happen. This is what Jesus tells us in today's Gospel Reading, and his words cannot fail: "The heavens and the earth will pass away, but my words will not." When the end of time is going to happen, nobody knows except the Father. It may or may not occur in our lifetime. But one thing is definite - before it happens, a great upheaval, in the heavens and on the earth, will take place. It will be a moment of great trial. Those who survive the fierce trial, because of their adherence to their faith in Jesus Christ, who came to give Himself for the life of God's people,will, according to the First Reading, 'shine forth like the splendor of the firmament'. The exact opposite will be everlasting horror and disgrace.
If the end of time does not happen in our lifetime, we are still bound by our baptism in Jesus to witness to our faith.
The human person, people say, is a little cosmos in him/herself. What happens in the world of nature happens in an analogical way to the human person. We do experience balmy weather inside us, or upheavals that can upset and drive us to despair. Those individual, personal upheavals can be moments of trial for us to precisely stand on our Christian commitment and let our faith in God work the stronger in us. The temptation, on the other hand, will be too great, if we have been used to dependence om worldly matters, to turn to those matters instead of turning to God.
It is said that before we close our eyes to this life on earth, we will undergo a final test - to put everything especially our life, in the hands of God, or to cling to earthly matters. It is with total, unconditional dependence on God, or a desperate attempt to grasp and hold on to worldly matters. If our lives here on earth have been an exercise in faith and trust in God, an exercise in fruitful vigilance, happy are we. The other end of the spectrum is horrifying even to think in passing.
Fr Jess A Enciso
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