Maranatha - Advent 2017

The peace of Christ is all we need, 

Our lives are filled with times of want,

Emptiness surrounds our daily trek,

Come Lord Jesus; Maranatha come.

We appear in dryness and exemplify loneliness,

Yet we await fulfillment as He approaches our time,

And seek the refreshment we know can come,

Come Lord Jesus; Maranatha come.

Through patient endurance we wait in hope,

Inflame our lives with your spirit of love,

And change our want to everlasting peace,

Come Lord Jesus; Maranatha come.

Now come Lord Jesus into our hearts,

Bring your saving grace into our souls,

We await the time you’ll come again,

Come Lord Jesus; Maranatha come.

This year as Advent arrives, at a time of unrest and worldly distress, our hope is more than ever needed to inflame the minds of each soul.  I remember a dream some time ago where the sounds and sight of bombs were going off in the not too far distance.  “They are getting close” I said and upon waking still saw the vividness and fear of a future we may face.  There are some who say that Armageddon is imminent and we, who stand in awe of the heavens opening with disastrous events, can only pray and remain close to God’s promises of a better life with Him.  

Advent is not a time of penance but a reality of hope for things to come.  Those things always remain; a new heaven as described by John from the Book of Revelation;  “Then I saw a new heaven and the former earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.  I also saw the holy city, a new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.”  Rev. 21: 1-2.

None of us can change the epic events that may surely come upon the earth, so much from man’s doing, but needing the intervention of Almighty God upon all mankind.  What have we done to this wonderful planet, to the environment that protects us, the giftedness God’s Holy Spirit has endowed us with, and the promises Jesus Christ handed us if we would only adhere to the love God gave to each person through the Paschal Mystery of Christ’s Death/Resurrection?

Where is the belief that “O’ Lord my God……..then sings my soul my Savior God to Thee; How Great thou art, how great thou art.”  Let us sing of the great words of praise and give God the honor due Him and bend our knees in supplication and humility?  Let each soul recognize the presence of God’s Spirit within us, and root out all semblance of hate, pride, and greed, and reach out to the disenfranchised. 

Even though we begin this year with Mark’s Gospel, I felt it imperative to print from a past reflection of 2015:  “There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on earth nations will be in dismay, perplexed by the roaring of the sea and the waves”.  The other Synoptic Gospels reiterate this theme and draw on the Eschatology found so prevalent in Matthew’s Gospel.   

The end times or the allusion to it is a powerful way to begin this season as we await the two comings of Jesus Christ.  The first is the fulfillment of the Old Testament Prophecies; Joel 2:1-2; “Blow the trumpet in Zion, sound the alarm on my holy mountain!”  “Let all who dwell in the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming.  Yes, it is near, a day of darkness, and of gloom, a day of clouds and somberness.”

“Then afterward I will pour out my spirit upon all mankind.  Your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions.  Even upon the servants and the handmaids, in those days, I will pour out my spirit.  The sun will be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood.  At the coming of the Lord, the great and terrible day.”  Joel 3: 1-2, 4.

From this we see the eschatology foretold and how it relates to this gospel reading from Luke.  An answer to the prayers of the people is coming and culminates with the Incarnation of Christ; God with us.

We must see that without God sending His Son in the essence (fullness) of time these end-times would have come to fruition without our salvation occurring.  Advent is the answer to hope, a future for everyone who believes and accepts the message of the love God has for us and is acquired through the Paschal Mystery of Christ.

The second coming, the Parusia, is one that we await with anticipation looking to the promise made through Christ.  But this comes at a cost where many do not readily prepare to work for.  Salvation and God’s Mercy are free, but there is attached one requirement; Matthew’s recounting Jesus’ excerption; “The Judgement of the Nations”  “you saw me naked, hungry, alone, etc, and came to my aid - blessed are you.”  “but woe to you who did not come to my aid!”  It is my belief and understanding that on this one pronouncement lies our acceptance into the Kingdom with God.