Ad Jesum per Mariam

What happens when Jesus comes to complete the work of salvation?

What Happens When Jesus Comes and Completes The Work of Salvation? Today’s scripture reminds us of a fundamental truth: the heart’s ultimate disposition should be to rely on God above all else—before trusting in anyone or anything. Jesus, turning to His disciples, begins by acknowledging the reality of tribulation and turmoil. It’s as if He’s saying, “Don’t be surprised — things may get worse before they get better.” Yet, even as He speaks of these challenges, His focus isn’t on despair! He describes the sun failing to shine, the moon darkening, and the stars dimming and falling from the sky—symbols of all power and light in creation growing silent and empty. In this moment of cosmic powerlessness, the nations will look up and see not an angel but the Son of Man Himself, coming on the clouds of heaven. On that day, no one will be left in doubt; there will be no earthly explanation, for His coming transcends all earthly power and understanding. Jesus’ Second Coming Jesus is clear about His purpose: “As I come, I will send my angels to gather those who are mine.” Consider the assurance in those words. No matter how dangerous or violent the moment, His first priority is to claim His own. This is the hope we hold in the promise of Christ’s second coming. It is not about the destruction of the world but the fulfillment of His work of salvation. We don’t anticipate abandonment or loss; we look forward to being gathered and brought home. How marvelous is the promise that, no matter how dark the times, His victorious hand will reach into that darkness and find us. Let us prepare our hearts and focus on the hope and glory of Christ’s return, meditating on this profound question: What happens when Jesus comes to complete the work of salvation? ------------------------------------ Image: cropped version of The Ascension: Dutch Artist and Painter: Rembrandt ------------------------------------ Gospel Reading: Mark: 13: 24-32 First Reading: DN 12: 1-3 Second Reading: HEB 10: 11-14, 18

Duration:: 21m
Broadcast on:: 18 Nov 2024
Audio Format:: other

The Lord be with you, and with your spirit. A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Mark. Glory to you, O Lord. Jesus said to his disciples, "In those days after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light. And the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the sun of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds. From the end of the earth to the end of the sky. Learn a lesson from the fig tree. When his branch becomes tender and sprouts leaves, you know that summer is near. In the same way, when you see these things happening, know that he is near at the gates. Amen. I say to you. This generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. But of that day or hour, no one knows. Neither the angels in heaven nor the sun, but only the Father. The gospel of the Lord. When you guys are in school, your mom and dad are laughing. When you guys are in school and it's time for your math lesson, does your teacher hand you incense and do you shake incense and let it smoke over your math book? No. You're looking at me as that's the craziest idea in the world, it probably is. Details matter. Details matter. What we do on Sundays for the proclamation of the gospel is not to put on a show. It's to help us to understand just what it is that is happening as the gospel is proclaimed. The incense is prepared and the priest who is going to proclaim the gospel prepares himself by bowing before the altar of sacrifice. And there's a prayer that is said every time the priest bows that way. He signs himself with the cross asking the Lord to purify his heart and his lips that the proclamation of these words may be done wordily and well. And when we have that simple pause, that simple ritual moment followed by the picking up of the book of the gospels which is the only book we carry in procession in the Catholic tradition. The only book that is elevated carried incense, the book of the gospels. Because there's something about these words, there is something about all of this. And as that's done, the entire congregation stands. We don't sit and listen to the gospel. We sit for the homily because that's not as important, but we stand for the gospel. And in that standing, we recognize that someone is here and it's not the priest. One of the ways that the Lord is present at Mass, truly, really present, is when the sacred scriptures are proclaimed and we are listening and the high point of that proclamation, the most intense level of the presence of the Lord, is when the words of the gospel are proclaimed. And so we stand to greet Jesus. That is what the standing is for at that moment. We stand recognizing that Christ himself will be speaking. We stand to pay attention. We stand out of respect. We stand recognizing that there is something different about these words than any other words. And as we just saw, the book is incensed. And the smoke of the incense rises toward heaven as a sign that what we are doing in this act of proclamation is not making a speech, it is in itself an act of worship. It is in itself a sacred thing, incense is used in the presence of God. It's a remarkable series of moments and look at how all of that works until we get to the point of all signing ourselves on the forehead, the lips and the heart, all of this before the words are even proclaimed. What the insistence then and how the church works that we need to prepare ourselves to meet the gospel, we need to prepare ourselves to listen to Jesus. There's no such thing as just showing up and doing it. And it's this attitude of making sure that we are prepared, that the one who proclaims is prepared and ready, that those who listen are prepared and ready to receive that word underscores the importance of the word that the Lord speaks to us at that moment. We don't talk about this enough, we don't reflect on this enough, and we can fall into the pattern of thinking we're just reading from a book. We can fall into the pattern of thinking we're hearing something interesting, and yet the simple fact of the matter is in that ritual action of the proclaiming of the word it is not me who was speaking to you. It's Jesus Christ, Jesus speaks at that moment. How powerful that is, and so it is then that we have ringing in our ears as we reflect on this, the statement of Christ that heaven and earth will in fact pass away. Heaven and earth are not forever, they are not permanent realities, however long lasting they are, but my word, he says, is more permanent than heaven, more permanent than this earth, more enduring than the long history of the universe is my word. Why? Because it is that word by which the universe is made in the first place. It is that word by which we are all called into being and existence, it is that word which is the ground of all of this. That is the one who speaks in the gospel reading. And so now he speaks to us on these last days of the liturgical year about the importance of being prepared and being ready because we live in a passing world. And the reality is that everything about this world will in fact pass. But it will pass in a very particular way. We hear in our first reading this mysterious prophecy from the book of Daniel, a vision of the great prince, Michael, rising at a time of tribulation which is shaking the nations of the world. And as that tribulation shakes the nations of the world, the prince who is the great protector of the people of God rises. And we pause right there and ask that question, who is this great protector of the people of God? And we are told he's given the name Michael. But Michael means something. It's not just a name. You know, it's not as if the Lord as he created the angel said, gee, I wonder what a really good name would be for this guy. And he had his list of angel names and went down the list. Now, the name Michael means something very particular, Michael, who is like God? That is the protector of the people. That is the angel that defends the people of God, that angel whose name is an insistence. No one is more glorious than God. No one is greater than God. No one is mightier than God. There is only one God and none of us are like him. How wonderful that the name of the protector of the people is the insistence on the unique greatness of God. His name doesn't mean strength of God. It doesn't mean love of God. It means that there is no one greater than God. Because this is the attitude that protects the heart of the believer. This is where we must fix our faith. That God is one and there is no second. That God alone is Lord and there is no other. But we live in a world that wants to make everything and everyone like God. We live in a world that says I can reinvent myself in whatever way I desire because my life is merely and uniquely my own. We live in a world that says I will define my own truth. Regardless of whether or not I am right in the first place. We live in a world where we become our own measuring stick. We live in a world where our desires, our priorities, our values are the most important things. And when we live in a world like that we live in a world that says in fact I am like God. We live in a world that places so many other things in the place of God. And so it is what do we hear in the first reading that there will arise that clear insistence that there is no one who can take the place of God, that there is no one who is a substitute for God, that there is God. And it is that insistence we hear in the first reading which will be victorious and not some lesser value, not some lesser thing, not some smaller reality, because it is that insistence that God alone is God which carries the troubled heart through a world that does seem to get more frightening each day and every day. That scripture reading that vision of Daniel doesn't simply speak about a strong angel. That scripture reading speaks about that fundamental disposition of the heart to rely on God before one relies on anyone or anything else. And so it is then that is this that Jesus picks up on as he is speaking to us because Michael is not the Savior, that would be Jesus Christ. And Jesus now looks at his disciples and he begins with that reference to tribulation, that reference to turmoil. He says, if the Lord is saying to us, oh, don't worry, as bad as things are right now, they can always get worse. And yet even as he says that, note he is not preoccupied with things being bad. He speaks of the sun failing to give its light, of the moon going dark, of the stars that we use to guide ourselves one by one dimming and falling out of the sky as if all power, all light, all lesser reality grows quiet, grows empty, grows powerless. And in that powerlessness of all creation, in that powerlessness of the entire world and the nations of the world, then they will look up and they will see not an angel but the Lord, the son of man coming on the clouds of heaven, that one who comes whose word will not pass away, that one longer lasting than heaven and earth, that one mightier than sun and moon and all of the nations of the world in their combined wealth and power, that one alone who is judge and king, ruler and redeemer, and note the insistence, I will come, and the world will see me. And on that day, no one will miss out and no one will wonder what is happening because it will be incredibly clear. There will be no earthly explanation because I will be coming and I am beyond all earthly power and all earthly explaining. And yet even as he says, I will come overpowering the false strength of this world, notice preoccupation Note the assurance of that statement, however dangerous the moment, however violent the time, when I come, job number one is to send my angels that they gather to me every one of those who is mine. This is what we look for when we speak of the Second Coming of Christ. We don't look forward to a destruction of earthly reality. We look forward to the completion of the work of salvation that Christ has begun. We do not look forward to being lost and abandoned. We look forward to being gathered in and brought home. Note how marvelous that is, that promise that however dark reality gets, my hand will reach victoriously into that reality and my hand will find you. My hand will save you because your place is not to be lost, wounded and overpowered by this world. Your place is with me. When we look forward to these things, we are looking forward to the completion of what Christ has promised all of us. His promise is certain. His promise is sure because even though heaven and earth pass away, his word doesn't. His word is not like my word, limited, passing, false, incomplete. His word is simple, clear, firm, and true, and enduring. And when that word makes a promise, that promise is absolutely certain. And the amazing thing about all of this is that you and me, we're all here this morning playing catch up because in a certain level this has already happened. From that first good Friday 2000 years ago, as the Lord stretches out his arms on the cross and gives his life for us and for our salvation, the sun went dark. The moon gave no light. The stars of the sky were powerless to lighten up that moment as the Lord hung on his cross and won your salvation and mine. In a mysterious way, what the Lord is talking about has already happened. And after that sun refused to shine, the Lord himself went into the halls of the dead to find those who are his and he gathered them to himself and he took them with him. Now marvel is this is. We stand in the reality that to a certain extent the end of the world has already come, but we haven't caught up with it yet. The Lord has won the victory over death. The resurrection of the dead has happened. There are already the just shining like the stars in heavenly glory around the throne of the Lord even today. And we look forward to that moment when we're included to. Note how powerful this is. The insistence that earthly reality is not the last word, that the decisive word on this world on this universe on our lives is Jesus Christ and he will come. And that word of his coming is not a threat, it's a promise. Those who fix their heart in me learning from Michael to say, there is no one like God. Those who belong to me and fix their hearts on me, I come and I come for them. Because those who are my own belong with me. And how wonderful it is that we can reflect on that right here. Because that same Jesus Christ who has spoken to us so mightily in his gospel, he's coming down from heaven in just a few minutes. We won't see him coming on the clouds today, even though we do see clouds around us. But he's going to be right here. And notice how every time we celebrate Mass, this is dress rehearsal for his second coming. The Lord is here and we need to be ready. And when he comes and when he arrives, the response is not to run away. It's not to be afraid, it's to get up, to come forward with a humble confidence and to extend our hand to that one who is victorious over this world. And when we do that, and the sacred host is placed in your hand today, that's the Lord coming into your life, the Lord taking your hand in his and reminding you of that promise. And when I come on that day where I complete all things, job number one, is I gather all of those who are mine, because your place is with me. And my place is eternal happiness, peace, and glory. And that is where you ultimately do belong, amen. [BLANK_AUDIO]