Sometimes in movies or large cities you will see someone standing on a street corner with a sign stating “The end is near”…This is nothing new. Ever since ancient times, people have been predicting the end of the world as we know it. This week’s readings deal with some of those mysterious passages in scripture. The Church has always talked about the glorious return of our blessed Lord Jesus. As Christians we are to look forward to this event and are not to be afraid. Every month on the radio I would be asked if I thought these were the “end times”. Questions would come in asking if I believed the Temple in Jerusalem would be rebuilt. Are we in the “Last days”?
The study of prophecy and end times theology has often been very popular, and often times very wrong in their predictions leaving many people wounded, hurt and disheartened. In the late 1800’s there were many preachers predicting our Lords return with specific dates and times. This has even carried over into the 20th and 21st centuries. We even had a billboard in Helena not long ago with dates and times being predicted. It seems some are simply fixated on knowing exactly when and where the end will come. Our Lord told us Himself that no one would know the day or the hour. There are signs that make a person wonder, so what are we to do?
Let me ask all of you a question: Suppose the temple was rebuilt. Suppose the Levitical; priesthood was revived. Suppose animal sacrifices began again. All of these are supposed signs of the end. Would any of these coming to pass cause you to fall on your knees and pray more? Would anything in your spiritual life change at all? The reason I ask this is because we as Catholic Christians are not to look for signs and wonders, but are to live each day as if it were our last. If, God forbid, I was to drop dead of a massive heart attack, then it was the “end times” for me. I am not trying to be flippant here, but we need to examine our consciences every day and make sure we are right with God. We need to go to Reconciliation and confess our sins and get made whole again. No one knows when they will draw their last breath. That is why we need to be ready today and not look for signs and wonders, but look inside ourselves and live right in God. So this week, I challenge all of you to examine your conscience daily. Make resolutions to not fall into that same old sin again. Go to confession and be made whole. If you do these things, you will be ready indeed for any “end times” that may come your way…Something to think about…May God richly bless you always…