End Times

These weeks we are hard pressed to not hear about the "End Times" in both every day life or within the celebration of our Christian rituals.

Last Sunday we marked the Feast of Christ the King which is the last Sunday of the church's liturgical year. This coming weekend we celebrate the First Sunday of Advent, the beginning of the church year.

The readings of the last couple of weeks and this week lead us to an examination of a reckoning in the world when God's Kingdom will be brought to fruition in the world with the second coming of Christ.

All around us, secularly, there is a buzz in regards to the last days of the Mayan calendar which will run out on December 21st. Soothsayers are abounding with thoughts of our demise.

What does this week afford us as a Christian Church? A great deal actually.

We are reminded this week, through the scriptures, that God has a plan for the world and it is unfolding in our presence. God is not only a God of history; He is a God of the here and now. God lives within us and among us.

Last Sunday's Gospel from St. Luke reminds us that Jesus came to point the way to the "truth." The truth for us today is that God remains and dwells within the world through the sacred Presence of His Son, Jesus. Jesus' presence is not only reverenced in the Eucharist at mass, but also in our daily lives when we strive to see and feel His presence. We must look.

In our lives, we can point to the "truth" of His loving and thoughtful Presence when we invite others to see opportunities for this in their lives. To see and find hope. There is an 'expectant' hope that comes in between these two seasons of the Church year. That hope is Jesus, himself. Coming to unite and heal the world and to restore us in dignity.

To remember our lasting 'hope' is to recall that Christ's Promise to come again is a reality in this world and in my life. In light of that, do I fear my future? Do I fear "the end?" Can I find some measure of comfort that God has made a covenant with this world that is being fulfilled every day I live and commit myself to His Will.

I invite you to find hope in these days; to know that God has a will and purpose for you. That God is making something good out of your life, even in times of trial, that we cannot always see or even understand.