AS our liturgical calendar draws close to its end, we think of the end-time toward which salvation history is directed. The apocalyptic Gospel reading (Mark 13:24-32) provides us with the proper perspective regarding the final intervention of God in human history, His coming at the end of time on “the Day of the Lord.”
The splendor of the Son of Man
The classical apocalyptic language of the sun being darkened and stars falling from the sky should not be interpreted as details of cosmic upheavals as in a catastrophe or disaster film. When the sun, moon and stars no longer illumine the Earth as references marking fixed time, it means simply that the order of things we are familiar with is no longer operative. Something else radically different is in place.
The emphasis is on the coming of the Son of Man (Daniel 7:13-14), the title Jesus applied to Himself, before whose splendor all our sources of light on Earth would pale. The image of a glorious king coming on the clouds of heaven connects with the good news Jesus preached about the Kingdom of God. The Parousia, Jesus Christ’s return at the end “with great power and glory” means the fulfillment of God’s reign. Rather than terrifying, the allusions are to the much-awaited Day of the Lord, that we joyfully look forward to with the certainty of faith. There may be tribulation and disturbances preceding, but it will not be chaos. A new world, a new creation, will be the setting for the splendor of the Son of Man when he comes. No wonder from the beginning the cry of Christians is Maranatha!—“Come, Lord!”
To gather the elect
The glorious coming of the Son of Man is in order to gather His elect from all the Earth. This good news, this fulfillment of “the gospel of Jesus Christ,” is supposed to encourage and strengthen the faith of the Christians who may at any time be undergoing terrible trials and hardships. There are always enough reasons in the world to feel pessimistic and terrified. But the message to the faithful is: Do not lose heart, do not panic, do not forget that the Lord is coming to inaugurate a new world, a new order of things and to gather all his elect around Him.
People are understandably curious as to when all this will happen, oftentimes vainly so. It is a secret nobody except the Father knows. So, anyone who says he knows is a pretender. This should not mean we are to be nonchalant or complacent. On the contrary, Jesus with His little parable about the fig tree tells us in effect that the coming is somehow always near, inasmuch as there are always signs of the urgent need of the world for the Son of Man, the tender sprouting leaves that tell us of the approaching summer, or the labor pains that presage imminent birth (Mark 13:8). And so, if the Son of Man is “at the gates” already, we do well to be on the alert and awake. We are to be looking out for the Lord we dearly long for.
Alálaong bagá, faith includes the attitude of watchfulness that enables us to read the signs of the times and to discern in our personal lives and in the life of the Church, as the katipunan of the elect, the presence and the comings of the Lord. This takes place with special intensity every Sunday as the weekly Day of the Lord, when in the celebration of the Eucharist we are already and actually gathered around our Lord Jesus Christ in participation of that fullness in communion with the Triune God. For this, Jesus comes to us each time in His word and sacrament, in His assembly and in His ordained minister.
Join me in meditating on the Word of God every Sunday, from 5 to 6 a.m. on DWIZ 882, or by audio streaming on www.dwiz882.com.