All Souls Saturday. Post-feast of the Encounter. Holy and Just Simeon Who Received God and the Prophetess Anna.
1 Corinthians 10:23-28. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17. Luke 21:8-9, 25-27, 33-36. John 5:24-30.
Read Luke 21:8-9, 25-27, 33-36
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
On numerous occasions, before His execution on the cross, and even after His glorious resurrection, and specifically at the time of His ascension into heaven, Jesus promised to His disciples to come back again. Many expected this to happen still during their lifetime, while the early Judeo-Christian Church hoped that the second coming of Jesus, or the so-called παρουσία (parousia, arrival), will take place anytime soon after the destruction of Jerusalem and the persecution of the Emperor Nero. Yet even today’s Gospel mentioning many false prophets and the wars that have to happen before Christ’s return, which “will not follow immediately” (Lk. 21:8-9), seem to indicate that many generations and centuries were supposed to pass before the second coming. Eventually, the Church came to understand that instead of wasting time on meaningless calculations and predictions, it has to concentrate on the present day, leaving the future to the future.
In fact, everything that Jesus promised was in tune with common beliefs of the Jews supported by the prophecies of Isaiah 13:9, Joel 2:1-2, Amos 5:18-20, and Zephaniah 1:14-18. The Jews expected their Messiah to come twice. The first coming was supposed to be limited to the concrete location and nation, while the second one had to be an event of universal significance. Is that not something that we, as Christians, also believe? In accordance with Jewish understanding, the period of time in between the two comings of the Messiah is referred to as the Day of the Lord or the Judgement Day. In biblical terminology, one day may last for centuries. Therefore, for two millennia we already live in the era of Judgement. Is not that precisely the time of wars, persecutions, betrayals, and false prophets so vividly described by Jesus in all the Synoptic Gospels [Matthew, Mark, and Luke]? The Day of Judgement is today. Yet, we are not judged by God but by ourselves and by our own wrong doings. Every choice we make in life may lead us closer to God or turn us away from Him. Therefore, up to the time of the second coming of the Lord, we have time for realization that we cannot separate freedom from responsibility.
Nevertheless, Jesus has promised to come again. We do not know when and how but it will happen since, according to Jesus, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away” (Lk. 21:33). Is it good or bad news for us? Well, it depends on our lives and how we use the gift of freedom given to us by our Creator. What is important for all of us is to never regard this life as an once-and-for-all settled comfortable situation, and to live in the awareness of parousia that is in the permanent state of expectation. Our present life must be regarded as something temporary that always finds itself in the shadow of eternity. In this way, the second coming of Jesus will become the happiest and the most desirable moment in history for those who live in perpetual vigilance.