Word to the Wise
Sunday, November 15, 2015 - 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time - B
[Dan 12:1-3; Heb 10:11-14, 18; Mark 13:24-32]"Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. But of that day or hour, no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." [Mark]
The end of the liturgical year brings with it the gospel reflections on the end of creation and the second coming of Christ. Every once in awhile there is a surge of books about this subject and fans of "biblical numerology" find what they think are secret "keys" to the date of Jesus' return. They are not at all inhibited by Jesus' explicit warning about NOT trying to do this. The Gospel of Mark makes two points. First, that the second coming will be characterized by events that are described in ancient prophecies. Second, we'll only know it is happening when it does happen. Predictions are useless.
It is one of those paradoxes that humans want to put God on a clock or calendar so they can schedule the second coming of Christ. Only humans are aware of the passage of time. The other animals respond to physical seasonal changes, but we get very philosophical about it. Time and eternity seem to be in tension with one another in the human mind. The Lord gives us each our "time" to spend in creation, and then we enter a completely different dimension that only our imaginations can speculate about. Jesus has promised that he will come again, but we cannot put this on our calendars. AMEN
config
view
logs
4096.0 KB
90 ms
4
