Friday of the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time

Today's Mass Readings

 

“When you see these things happening, know that the Kingdom of God is near.”

If we are to appreciate what Divine Revelation is telling us in the Sacred Scriptures in these passages, we must remember the relevance of time. I was once living in a small priory whose rooms were rather small. In one of these its occupant, our Fr. Hugh Tasch, had put up little pages on the wall all around the perimeter of the room. On the beginning page, he had indicated the “Big Bang” – the scientific term for the beginning of the universe. At the end he had indicated in inches or centimeters, the “yesterday” of Christ’s coming which was like minutes ago!

The centuries since Christ to the present day have seen many signs “in the sun, the moon, and the stars.” We think of many of these events as long ago. But we are conscious of many such events going on in our own times and, in relation to the age of the universe, those past ones are like yesterday! In other words, “when you see these things happening” is now, in our own “time.” And Jesus, the Lord of history, the “One like a son of man coming, on the clouds of heaven” can easily be understood as ‘any day now.’

Christ’s return in glory— even though we have no idea when it will occur— must find us prepared. We want to live according to the Gospel in the present. Vigilant is the Christian stance!

Reflection by Fr. Xavier Nacke, OSB

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