The Pope calls a meeting of all the cardinals: 鈥淚 have some really fantastic news and some very bad news.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽 The cardinals are all ears, so the Pope tells them, 鈥淛esus Christ has returned to the world. The time of judgement is at hand, and our faith in his existence is justified.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽 One of the cardinals asks, 鈥淲hat鈥檚 the bad news?鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽 The Pope replies, 鈥淗e was calling from Salt Lake City.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽 We may smile at that surprising prospect, but when Jesus came, he did not arrive in Salt Lake City. In fact, we are entering the season in our church liturgies: 鈥溾�hen the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law鈥� (Galatians 4:4).
聽聽聽聽聽 Recently I heard a homilist talking about Revelations and the end times. He spoke about the end times when Christ came to redeem us and to be present in our world. It struck me with some sense of joy that, yes, Jesus is with us. We need to act like we are temples of the Holy Spirit and God is present in our lives.
聽聽聽聽聽 Saint Paul says 鈥溾�hen the times had run their course to the end: that he would bring everything together under Christ, as head, everything in the heavens and everything on earth鈥� (Ephesians 1:10). How can we pretend we are still waiting for Christ to come? Even Satan was fooled and didn鈥檛 鈥済et it鈥�.
聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淣one of the rulers of this age understood it,鈥� Paul wrote, 鈥淔or if they had they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory鈥� (1 Corinthians 2:8). In 鈥淭he End Times A Bible Study鈥� Jack Kelley says: 鈥溾�楻ulers of this age鈥� is a reference to Satan, whom Paul called 鈥榯he god of this age鈥� in 2 Corinthians 4:4. If Satan had known that his efforts to defeat the Lord by killing Him would result in his own total defeat, he would have done everything he could to prevent it.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽 Kelley says: 鈥淭here is no precedent condition, nothing that must happen first, except that if you want to be included you have to give your heart to Him who鈥檚 coming before the trumpet call sounds. Better do it right away, for if you listen carefully you can almost hear the footsteps of the Messiah.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽 We must prepare for the day God calls us from this earth for our particular judgement: 鈥淭herefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come鈥he Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.鈥澛� (Matthew 24:42-44).
聽聽聽聽聽 Jack Kelley says, 鈥淭he enormity of God鈥檚 Gift of Grace, made available to Jew and Gentile alike and sealed with the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, is something so unbelievable that neither Paul nor any other Apostle was ever able to adequately describe it.
聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淭he best Paul could do was to borrow a passage from Isaiah, 鈥楴o eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him鈥欌�� (1 Corinthians 2:9).
聽聽聽聽聽 Our lives need to reflect the joy that the coming of Christ has brought to this world. 鈥淏lest are they who are called to the wedding feast of the Lamb鈥� Revelations 19:9.
