Tag Archives: Second Coming

First Sunday of Advent – 2021

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Today, we begin a new liturgical year; we are celebrating the First Sunday of Advent, in the Year of Our Lord, 2021/2022. And we seem to be beginning the new Advent season, like we finished Ordinary Time a couple of week ago, with a reflection on the Second Coming of Christ. Once again we hear that the end times will come with powerful signs and wonders that will scare the living daylights out of people experiencing it!

Jesus speaks to the people of His time, and to us in this present time, and those who may come after us: “But when these signs begin to happen, stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand.” We are told to be vigilant, not lazy. Now is the time for us to begin examining how well..or not; we are striving to live the Gospel life! How open are our ears and hearts to the prompting of the Holy Spirit!

We were committed at our Baptisms; we pledged at our Confirmations, to live the Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ. We committed ourselves to loving our Lord God with all our heart and soul. And to love our neighbors, known and unknown; rich and poor; good or bad, as we love ourselves! This call for compassion, love and mercy. It calls on us to seek daily renewal of our heart and soul. This calls for constant reflecting on Scripture; constant prayer, both privately and in community. And joining together at the Lord’s Table, to receive the Body and Blood of Christ, so that we can be strengthened, renewed and ready for when He comes!

  • Jeremiah 33: 14-16
  • Thessalonians 3: 12-4: 2
  • Luke 21: 25-28, 34-36

This was composed in thirty minutes; it an approach I tried once before, and I am giving it another go! 🤞

Thirty-Third Sunday of Ordinary Time Homily!

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“But of that day or hour, no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the SON, but only the Father.”

When I lived in the North Shore, I had to drive through the industrial area of the city of Lynn to get to the T station for the Blue Line subway into Boston. I drove down this road known as the Lynnway,and one morning I noticed this huge commercial sign. One it was a picture of a man, identified as an evangelical preacher, who had calculated, using Scripture, the exact day and time of the Second Coming of Jesus. And it was coming in a few months! He encouraged his followers and anyone who wished to be saved, to get ready. Some interpreted that to mean getting rid of their physical possessions, emptying out their bank accounts; some selling their homes. Of course, the day came and went, and nothing had happened. The preacher sent out a press release, stating that he had “miscalculated.” Sorry!


Scientists have made predictions about the end of our Earth, our Solar System, our Universe; the end of space and time itself, are billions, trillion of years in the future. Or it could be “snap”! Science fiction authors, movie producers and directors have speculated a future where the Earth dies violently from plague, a monster asteroid, a Sun going supernova, a nuclear war or accident!


But when we we are talking about the end times; we are talking about the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, our Savior! This is not something that should be feared! This is something that we should be waiting for with joyous expectation! Jesus will be coming to bring us home to the Father! It is that promise that gives us hope, with all the pains, the sorrows, we may be struggling through. It gives us hope!


So let us live as a people of hope; not just for ourselves, but for every person who might also be in pain, we share with them the reason for our hope, by our words and actions!


We should strive to live a life of expectation; not just for the Second Coming of The Son of God; but in encountering Jesus here and now. Every time we read and reflect on His Gospel. Every time we open our heart and soul to Jesus, in prayer; and especially, when we approach the altar and receive His Body and Blood; we encounter the One who loves us, cares for us, heals our wounds, gives us joy, peace, and and hope!


So as we live daily, looking hopefully to the future; we echo the words from the Book of Revelation: “Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!”

First Sunday of Advent – 2014; A Reflection

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1st Advent

Isaiah 63:16b-17, 19b; 64: 2-7
1 Corinthians 1: 3-9
Mark 13: 33-37
We are entering the Advent season, in preparation for the celebration of Christmas. Of course, the department stores, electronics stores, the online shopping sites, have declared that now is the Christmas season. “So buy now, now, NOW; while prices are low, low, LOW!” And even those who do understand the meaning of this Advent season, they focus more on the preparation to remember the first coming of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as a human child. We tend to forget that Advent is a time to also reflect on the Second Coming of Christ, at the end of time. Many of us, I think, have the attitude that the Second Coming will not happen in our lifetimes. This is fueled by scientific speculation that the Universe has billions of years left in it’s life, that Earth itself, has millions, if not billions years of life left in it. So we become complacent, we are like the college student who slacks off most of the academic year, figuring he can cram in his studies and be ready for his final examination.

Then today’s Gospel can be an alarm for us. For Jesus is grabbing us by the shoulders; shaking us and saying: “Watch!” He is telling us, in no uncertain terms, that we do not know the day or the hour of his coming again, his coming in glory and power. So we need to live every day, every hour, and every second, in expectation of Christ’s Second Coming! And our hearts and souls must to ready, every day, every hour, and every second, to greet Him when He comes. We must strive daily, to read, reflect on, and live the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We must live in expectation of encountering Christ daily, through God’s Creation, through His Word, in each other, and especially thorugh the Eucharist. We must work to make our hearts open to the Presence of our Living God..

This requires work, this requires preparation; it will mean a lifetime of work. God is with us, ready to form us in a beautiful creation; as long as we do not harden our hearts against Him. This is what the season Advent is to help us understand, to help us begin anew the work of conversion, to prepare and watch for the coming of the Lord.