33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Of that day or hour, no one knows. (Mark 13:32)
When Jesus said that “no one knows” when the Second Coming would happen, was he saying that even he didn’t know? It sure seems that way. Maybe he was reminding us that he had submitted to the limitations of being human, just like us. Yes, he was fully divine, but he was also fully human. And that entailed certain limitations. This is why Luke tells us that Jesus was always increasing in wisdom “before God and man” (Luke 2:52).
Today, however, Jesus knows when he will come again. The problem is, we still don’t know!
Repeatedly throughout history, people have tried to predict the end of the world. St. Paul thought it was just around the corner. St. Hippolytus of Rome and St. Irenaeus of Lyon thought it would happen in AD 500. John Wesley, the first Methodist, thought the end would come in 1836. Many Christian leaders—and no shortage of psychics—have also weighed in. Not surprisingly, many of these people then recalculated the dates after their first predictions didn’t come true, only to have their followers disappointed again.
Some believers are more cautious. They tell us that we will see specific clues when the time is near. They point to certain signs—a war in the Middle East, a drought in Africa, earthquakes in Peru, or some other disaster. When those signs occur, it means that Jesus is very near.
Still, no human being knows when Jesus will come. It could be today. It may not be for thousands of years.
St. Francis had a different take on the subject. Once, when he was working in the garden, a friar asked, “What would you be doing now if you knew that Jesus was coming back today?” Francis replied, “I would keep hoeing my garden.” Francis knew he was trying his best to be ready, and there was nothing more he could do.
The point is, Jesus will come. So our best answer is the same as it has always been: be ready.
“Come, Lord Jesus!”
Daniel 12:1-3
Psalm 16:5, 8-11
Hebrews 10:11-14, 18
Origen (c.185-253)
priest and theologian
Homilies on the book of Joshua, no.16, 3 ; SC 71
"Then they will see the Son of Man coming... with great power"
“A very large part of the land still remains to be conquered” (Jos 13:1)... Consider our Lord and Savior's first coming, when he came to sow the word on earth. He gained hold of the whole earth by force of this sowing alone. He put opposing powers and the rebel angels who control the nations to flight and, at the same time, sowed his word and spread abroad his churches. This is his first possession of the land.
Follow me, however... through the subtlety of Scripture and I will show you what the second conquest of the land means, of which it was said to Joshua / Jesus that much had been left. Hear Saint Paul's words: “He must reign until he has made all his enemies his footstool” (cf. 1Cor 15:25; Ps 110[109]:1). This is the land of which it was said that it had been left until everything has been completely subjected under his feet and that thus he would make all people his heritage... With regard to our own times, we are well aware of things “that remain” and are not yet subject under Jesus' feet, yet he must take possession of all things. For there is no end to the world until everything has been subjected to him. Indeed, the prophet said: “All nations shall be subject to him, from the ends of the rivers to the ends of the earth; the Ethiopians shall bow before him” (cf. Ps 72[71] LXX) and “From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia they shall bring him offerings” (Zeph 3:10).
From this it follows that, at his second coming, Jesus will rule over that land of which there remains much to possess. But how blessed will be those who were his subjects from his first coming! Truly, they will be loaded with gifts in spite of the resistance of so many enemies and the attacks of so many foes; they will receive... their share of the Promised Land. But when submission has been carried out by force, on that day when “the last enemy, who is death, shall have been destroyed” (1Cor 15:26), there can be no more favor for those who refuse to submit.