Is 2:1-5
Rom 13:11-14a
Mt 24:37-44
The first thing you do when you begin a journey is to decide on a destination. We are used to put in the satnav which immediately calculates either the shortest or the quickest or the cheapest possible routes.
Today, as we are beginning again the journey in time which is the liturgical year, we begin with the beginning: we look at our destination. Where is time leading to? Where are we going to? What is our destination: the destination of this world, but also of the church, and of my life?
The Gospel’s answer is clear. This world goes towards its destruction. All of us are going towards a judgment. The Church is journeying towards meeting Christ at His second coming.
Let’s begin with the world. This world goes to its end, and it does not know it. Just as the flood surprised the world at the time of Noah, the end of the world will come as a surprise. It will not cease to exist of itself, out of old age or from the effect of wear and tear. The world’s end will come upon it from outside. Just as it began by the will of its Creator, it will end by a special decision of God. This cannot be anticipated. You cannot calculate when it will take place. It could be today, tomorrow, or in a few million years. “With the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (2 P 3:8). This world as we see it was not; it began to be; it will stop existing one day. There is something – or rather Someone – greater than this world, by whom and for whom this world was made. We should never forget this as we walk in time in this passing world.
Now, what about us? Of course, we are aware that we, personally, will have an end. Each of us will die. Does it mean that death is our final destination? Jesus tells us otherwise. We are going to meet with a judge. A judgment will be passed on what we have done in this life. Did we do good or evil? Did we love ourselves only, or did we love God and others? In the same location and in similar circumstances, “one is taken and one is left”. This fifty-fifty rate is not very encouraging. For all His mercy, God does not set aside His justice. We hear the warning. It is stern enough. We have to act as well as we can and to entrust ourselves without fear to God’s merciful justice. This is the most important thing. God’s judgment is not at all like human judgment. It does not consist in weighing an action from outside, but it proceeds from inside. God knows my heart. He sees exactly what I can and cannot do, but also what I can do but will not do.
St Benedict in his Rule does not hesitate to invite us to live in the perspective of judgment. We are supposed to remind ourselves regularly that there will be a judgment. Already, one can even say, we are presented to God’s judgment. Is this terrible? Yes, in a sense, for who can declare himself or herself just when confronted with God’s holiness? But, says St Benedict, this is not the end of the journey: whoever accuses himself or herself receives forgiveness and justification. So, we are not going towards a human judgment, but towards a divine one, and that makes all the difference. We are going to a moment of truth: truth about ourselves and truth about God. We can prepare for it by living according to the voice of truth in our conscience and the voice of God in the Scriptures and in the Church. This is our responsibility, and at the same time, our dignity.
The world goes to its end and does not know it. We are going to a judgment and knowing this makes us both responsible and humble. As for the Church, she is journeying towards Christ Jesus who will come again in glory, and she knows this. It is at the heart of her mission. The Church is like Noah’s ark: a warning to the world, a safe refuge for those who believe, a sign of hope for all humanity. She is the main sign that Jesus is really coming. The Church is waiting for the Lord to come. She does so through her humble service of men and women in their needs, from the moment of their conception to the natural end of their lives. She does so through her humble service of God in her worship and her prayer-life. She does so by preaching the Gospel and echoing the call to conversion to new generations.
The world goes to its end. We must prepare for divine judgment. The Church awaits the coming of the Lord. This is what we shall meditate upon during Advent. “The Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect”. “Watch for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming”. Jesus even uses the image of the thief in the night. We must therefore be on the watch, always ready. We cannot let ourselves be surprised. We have the knowledge. We want to live according to the truth revealed in Jesus. We want to proclaim this truth to all, those who are near and those who are far. And we pray to Jesus:
“Come, Emmanuel, once born in Bethlehem.
Make yourself known today to the hearts of many.
Prepare us for your kingdom of truth.
You are Our Lord:
Come and introduce us mercifully
into the eternal kingdom of
your Father and our Father. Amen