THE END OF TIME

Luke 17:26-37

Jesus is coming to the end of his public life. And the gospels these days are reflections on the coming of the end of time and present to us the words of Jesus about how to prepare ourselves for the coming of the Kingdom. His main lesson is for us to be ready and not to think that we can postpone our preparations. When the end strikes, it will be too late for preparation.

As he explains this, Jesus gives the examples of the time of the flood when people ate and drank right up to the moment of the disaster. Similarly in the days of Lot, people were leading their ordinary lives when fire and brimstone rained down on the wicked city of Sodom. Only Lot and his family who had been previously warned escaped.

We know that preparation at the last minute is not easy. The point in this passage is that our daily routine can make us forget to think about anything else. The kind of life we live in our society today can create in many of us that total lack of attention to a more profound dimension of life. We allow our desires to take precedence over faith and Christian values.

            When the son of man is revealed, that is, when he comes at the end of time it will be too late to make emergency measures. This gospel seems to paint doom and destruction, it seems to fill us with fear and to present to us a threatening God. But if we look deeper it is an invitation to a life of faith. This text is an important advice not to be caught sleeping but to remain alert to meet the Lord. It is and good advice not just for the end of our lives but for every day and every moment.

This is possible if we accept to live continuously and consciously in the presence of God. Far from being afraid of his coming, we will look forward to that day with anticipation. Because we have been faithful to his commandments in our daily lives. What gives us security is not to know the hour of the end of time, but the certainty that the Word of God has been alive in our life. And how can we be sure of that? If we live our life in self-donation to others. Jesus says: “Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses it will save it.”