Message of Abbot Paul - Sunday 14th November

Message from Fr Paul for Sunday, 14th November 2021

           As we enter into the home straight for the end of the Liturgical Year, with only two weeks left before the First Sunday in Advent, our readings at Mass turn to the first of the great Advent themes, the Second Coming of Jesus, the end of the world and Final Judgement. Let’s not forget that when we pray, “Come, Lord Jesus, come,” we are urging Jesus to return in glory to judge the living and the dead, we are not asking him to be born again as an infant in Bethlehem. Advent is, in fact, a time of vigil, where we pray earnestly that Jesus return, just as he has promised, to bring this world, as we know it, to an end and inaugurate the kingdom of his heavenly Father, the kingdom of heaven. Our Gospel passage today comes from Mark, (Mk 13: 24-32). Jesus is talking with his disciples and telling them, “In those days, after the time of distress, the sun will be darkened, the moon will lose its brightness, the stars will come falling from heaven and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory; then too he will send the angels to gather his chosen from the four winds, from the ends of the world to the ends of heaven.” There are many similar apocalyptic prophecies of the end of the world in Matthew, Mark and Luke, and something of this prophecy is fulfilled when Jesus is crucified, as you will remember from the Passion narratives. Here the signs of the end are all natural and, as we grapple with climate change today, we can already see more than just the first signs of the collapse of the natural order in our world. Although it is doubtful that any living today will survive to see the end of the world, nevertheless our children and grandchildren might well see the demise of the Artic icecap, glaciers and tropical forests and the disappearance of island nations and low-lying countries under the ocean waves. We all know that we are born to die, but with God death is not the end, but a new beginning and the end of the world, but the beginning of a new and greater world, that of the spirit.

           Jesus asks his disciples how come they can tell the seasons, but not the approach of the end or of the return of the Son of God. “Take the fig tree as a parable: as soon as its twigs grow supple and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. So with you, when you see these things happening: know that he is near, at the very gates. I tell you solemnly, before this generation has passed away all these things will have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. But as for that day or hour, nobody knows it, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son; no one but the Father.” All will pass, but the words of the Lord will not pass, for they are eternal. The disciples, then, must learn to discern the signs of the times. They must be prepared, ready to be counted, ready to be judged and ready to enter into eternal life. Today, we are the disciples to whom Jesus is speaking, let us never forget that.