We have arrived at the second to the last day – tomorrow is the very last day of the liturgical year. John’s vision in the first reading speaks of the second-to-last-things that will happen. We tend to get caught up in the descriptions of all those things: plagues, wars, earthquakes, chaos, upheaval, and disasters. Many people’s lives are based on the worries, fears, and panic around all those second-to-the-last things. The truth is that all those second-to-the-last events are all part of our daily lives. We also worry about the date and time when all those things will happen, so that we can know the exact time and date of the last things – the final end.
Today John describes the victory of those first faithful martyrs and the early Church who followed the Lamb of God. The text says they reign with the Christ in the new Jerusalem. What a joy to know that they as members of the Church, the public, courageous testimony of our faith leads us to co-reign with the Lamb of God. In the end, John’s vision is a book of joy and faith. In the last chapter it says:
I am of David’s line, the root of David and the bright star of the morning.
The Spirit and the Bride say, ‘Come’. Let everyone who listens answer, ‘Come’
Rather than run from the second-to-the-last things and the end time, the Church calls: out Come Lord Jesus.
Christ in today’s Gospel calls us to read the signs of the times just as we read the annual signs of the changes of the seasons. In the midst of all the changes and difficulties in our lives the Word of God is the only constant. The mission of the Church and the local faith community is to spread the faith through a true public testimony of the faith.
Image “File: Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) 2017-06-02 032.jpg” by Chris Light is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.