Jer. 33: 14-16; Ps. 25: 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 14; 1 Thes. 3:12 – 4:2; Lk. 21: 25-28; 34-36
Parousia, meaning the second coming of Christ to earth will happen swiftly bringing upon us a general judgment. Wait aren’t we preparing for Christmas, the “Nativity pre-feast” of the birth of Jesus, why are we reading in Luke about the second coming of Jesus to start our Advent? In the Latin Rite the Advent season covers the joyful remembrance of the Lord’s first coming in His Incarnation and anticipation of the second coming at the end of time. Many disciples expected Jesus’ second coming in their lifetime however Luke sees a longer period in history to come and it is important to “Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life”. Simply put lets us not get complacent about our faith so concerned with our daily comforts or anxieties we lose sight of the “big picture” our purpose in salvation history.
St. Paul in Thessalonians has the same concern in prayer for the faithful “to be blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his holy ones. Amen”. This Parousia covers the period after the birth of Jesus, the destruction of the temple, the period of time between until the full revelation of the kingdom at the second coming marking the end of time. It is the fullness of time for the New Jerusalem.
The New Jerusalem is now the city of God not as a land mass but a mass of people of faith in Jesus Christ. It is marked by Jesus’ death, resurrection and outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The city of God lies at all corners of the world in the temple of the people who receive the body of Christ in the Eucharist. This city is now given a new name, “The LORD is our justice”. It is the personal justice of God we are called to live daily proclaiming our faith as witnesses of holiness when we “increase and abound in love for one another and for all”. For “one another” is for all believers and “for all” is for those of little or no faith. Holiness makes no exceptions in love.
Luke reminds us of Jesus teaching to his disciples that during this time between the first coming and second coming “There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars and on earth nations will be in dismay”. Every generation seems to live a period of persecution in their lifetime. From the early church persecution after the destruction of the temple throughout history including all the world wars, to 9/11 and the uprising of Isis we see persecution of the faithful. Yet we are not to confuse these signs as the second coming but remain “vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man.”
Our call is to conduct ourselves to please God at all times. I was at a conference on mental health and substance misuse and the question posed was “why do youth after experiencing an overdose have no fear in returning to the drug use that almost cost them their life?” In part the answer was that youth are very resilient and experience no immediate long term consequence from the overdose experience. I find that to be true of overall humanity. How often do we know misuse of anything including overindulgence in food is not healthy even if there is some immediate consequence like an upset stomach or indigestion not to mention the excess weight gain? For some the attitude is “we have to die of something, why not enjoy it?” Then the permanent symptoms start to manifest like diabetes, hypertension, or gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and we begin to modify our behavior once we face the long-term damage.
What about our basic values, are we living according to what we say we value? We value honesty, integrity, responsibility, a strong work ethic among others yet how do we respond if honesty means admitting our fault, integrity means doing the right thing even if it is going to cost us more, responsibility means no excuses, and a strong work ethic means consistently doing our best regardless of the circumstances? All of a sudden our actions and reaction finds justification for being less than the best God created us to be. We lose sight of our call to conduct ourselves to please God at all times.
Let us look at our moral values, the standard between good and evil. We value fidelity in our relationships, justice vs. cheating in our negotiations, and giving respect to others regardless of race, ethnicity, or economic status. From this comes thou shall not commit adultery, steal, and thou shall not bear false witness against thy neighbor. Commandments come from the basic human struggle between good and evil and the temptation to serve ourselves before others.
Let us look at our Christian values, the standard God set with his people. We value marriage vs. “living together”, we value obedience to God by denial of self, and we value a pattern of conduct after Jesus. Jesus came into the world that we may have his witness to pattern our lives in his image. There is a book titled,
The Imitation of Christ by Thomas A Kempis. In it is a section of being “Eternally Minded”. Being eternally minded is being Christ to the world.
Thomas Kempis addresses the struggle between “human nature and grace” which “move in opposite directions unless you are spiritual in inwardly perceptive.” He draws the contrast as human nature “deceives…always has selfish motives…But grace walks in simplicity and turns away from every appearance of evil.” “Nature strives for its own advantage…Grace considers…what will benefit many people”. “Nature eagerly accepts honor and reverence. Grace directs all honor and glory to God.” “Nature fears shame and contempt. Grace rejoices in humiliation for the name of Jesus.” “Nature loves leisure and bodily rest. Grace cannot be idle and gladly embraces hard work.” This is our calling to follow the road less traveled of moral excellence.
Scripture says in 2 Peter 1: 5-8 “Make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, virtue with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with devotion, devotion with mutual affection, mutual affection with love. If these are yours and increase in abundance, they will keep you from being idle or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” These are the graces in the imitation of Christ he is prepared to offer the soul who seeks to remain eternally minded. These are the building blocks of a house that withstands the storms of life without fear. This is the city that claims “The Lord is our justice.”
In the struggle between good and evil there is a simple standard to follow. It is “Do the next right thing”. When in doubt do the next right thing. When we find ourselves anxious about a major decision affecting the future do the next right thing today. Trust in God and allow him to work for our greater good by doing the next right thing out of love for Him this moment. It is easy to be deceived when we act with intent to control the outcome regardless of whether it is a right or wrong action. That is the voice of the evil one. Listen to the voice of God who is just and holy to guide our conduct in doing the next right thing that matters to him in our lives. When we live according to our values we receive the joy we seek in Advent. It is the joy that God is with us now, in his second coming, and eternally.
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