[A reflection on the Gospel at Mass for the First Sunday of Advent, December 3, 2023, Mk. 13.24-37 (click here to read it).]
I have lost count of the number of times some prominent preacher has predicted when Jesus will come again to stomp out the wicked (usually a list of the preacher's own avowed enemies and obsessions) and to rule over all the earth (usually under the political structure of the preacher's denomination or congregation with hopefully themselves being at Our Lord's right hand).
Good Lord, deliver us.
These statements by allegedly "Bible Believing" Christians do not have the strength of Scripture and Tradition behind them. In fact, today's Gospel flat out contradicts them, when Our Lord Jesus Christ states, "But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." (Mk. 13.32) If the Father hasn't let Jesus in on the secret...or the Holy Spirit...who are we to say that He's shared it with us?
Oy, the chutzpah!
Earlier in the chapter, St. Mark the Evangelist relays this piece of advice from Our Lord, where Jesus says, "...If anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or 'Look, there he is!' do not believe it." (Mk. 13.21) He later refers to these claimants as false Christs and false prophets, (Mk. 13.22) most assuredly a condemnation of what they are doing. Our Lord is clear...have nothing to do with them, their heresy is poison.
That's gotta sting.
What Our Lord is crystal clear about with the resulting uncertainty of when He shall return and when He shall establish His rule over the Heavens and the Earth is that since we do not, we cannot know when that will happen, then we His disciples must be on constant alert. Now that does not mean ready to sell all your shares and put the estate on the market at a moment's notice (really, like any of those assets or the money will have any value), but it means continually to work for the Kingdom of God, knowing the time is possibly short and that we need to make every moment count: every hungry person fed; every thirsty person given water; every homeless person sheltered; every person with inadequate clothing attired for the climate; every sick person cared for; every prisoner visited and not forgotten. This also means the daily, even hourly struggle against the passions and impulses that would have us take food, drink, clothing, shelter, care, companionship from those in need does not slack or abate. I absolutely love to quote my mother here, since it summed up the approach of the Gospel, "Live every day as if Jesus is coming back today, but plan as if He isn't." The upshot is that working for the Kingdom involves here and now as well as looking forward, taking off the old nature and putting on the new nature a daily struggle. Our Lord does not want us to slack off, thinking, "Oh, He won't be back in my lifetime," nor does He want us to be so "prepared" that we forget those around us.
He wants us to wait, and watch, and live by the Gospel.