The Gospel of Mark, chapter 13:33

Do you ever wonder if God has forgotten you? Do you ever wonder how he could allow the world to evolve in the way it has? From the time people first believed in the one God, they have asked questions like these. They longed for some change in the course of history that would bring peace and justice to the world.

God heard this prayer and on that first Christmas set in motion a whole new way of life, something the Bible calls the kingdom of God. Jesus promised that once we had lived His way of life for a while, he would return. We wait for his return and, while we wait, we follow His example. As Christians, we are taught that genuine respect for others, fairness and honesty in our dealings with our fellowmen, are based on fidelity to the love of Christ.

Catholics do not often talk about the return of Jesus and the end of the world. They seem to leave that topic to the fundamentalist churches. But, the world will end and Jesus will return. That is not only an article of faith, it is central to our concern for the world around us. We are charged with the task of preparing the world for the return of Jesus just as the people of the Old Testament were charged with preparing the world for his first coming. So often we comment on what a poor job they did. But, how much better is our preparation? How much of our time goes into promoting justice, peace, brotherhood and the love of Christ which the world so greatly needs.

Honesty is a virtue which is easily overlooked in our modern world. We almost expect people to be dishonest and are not surprised when they lie or cheat. Yet, honesty is the mother of trust and trust is the glue which holds all societies together, including the church. We show our regard for honesty not only by being honest with ourselves but by demanding honesty of everyone in our world.

The United States has been torn apart by revelations of lying and fraud in the highest reaches of its government. Much of our trust in public figures has eroded. We are not sure that we can ever believe what our political leaders say. For many people, this is not a big problem, but it is a tragedy. The tragedy is that people have lost their inner-sense of direction.

We must prepare for the coming of the Kingdom of God. We are responsible for the world and for ourselves. God has placed us here and has made it possible for us to fashion the world and ourselves according to His Image.

His Son has shown us the way. It is urgent that we follow Him for we “do not know when the appointed time will come.”

Fr. Hugh Duffy