As we approach the end of our liturgical year our readings turn toward what we could refer to as the “the final days,” the completion of God’s creation. There is strong language describing the events that will take place, urgent statements about being prepared for the coming of these days. Down through the years some people have taken the language and the images literally—in a fundamentalist way. But the “end” has not come in those terms.
By and large, we do not live expecting the final reckoning to come anytime soon, and we try to make sense of the time in between the coming of Jesus and His final coming. We long for and eagerly await the redemption promised to us by God. (This redemption is primarily rescue from evil and the fulfillment of God’s desires for us and all of creation.)
Perhaps more than ever, as the human community we are aware of the global crisis in economic, social, and ecological terms. In view view of our own social and global situation, as well as our personal moral responsibility, Jesus summons us to conversion. But, in the end, his words to us in this week’s Gospel are words of promise and hope: the kingdom, the realm of God is within you, near you, and around you. “By your perseverance you will secure your lives.”
And so, as we await the fulfillment of God’s salvation for us, we might pray for the grace to redeem our time with eager service, and the grace to go forward in the light of God’s commands and God’s strength.
Len Kraus, S.J.
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