Live The Coming Within. Behold The Coming Out There. | Word from the Shepherd No. 156

Bishop's Homilies

1st Sunday Advent | Year C
Jer.33:14-16; 1Thess.3:12-4:2; Lk.21:25-36

We see wars, poverty, natural disasters, perfect storms, troubles and chaos everywhere. We see the signs in the sky and on the earth. People observe: Bad times, bad signs. Something is happening! Something is coming upon the world. Then they conclude: It is the end of the world. It is the end of evil. But for a good many, they are seized by fear. Did God meant this to be that? Was God pointing out to us the “how of living in such times”?

How do we understand the Comings mentioned in the scriptures? Is it about the end? A deadline? A day of doom?

There are three comings:

  • The Coming in History, that took place 2000 years ago;
  • The Coming in Glory at the end of time; and
  • The Coming in Mystery, in our daily lives and happenings.

We are journeying in the in-between phase – a living, evolving and becoming times. Not a passive and idle waiting, but a purpose-driven life, moving towards the Omega point. A ready-made world was not given to us. It is about co-creating, about building with the Lord and polishing a rough diamond to be a beautiful cut priceless gem. It is a call and invitation to live in the present time shaped by Christ

We are moving towards the Second Coming, being vigilant and watchful. Paul called it active waiting; abounding in love, being blameless in holiness, being pleasing to God, and being receptive to the instructions given through Jesus. It was not being idle, listless, sponging on others and being preoccupied with the heavens and forgetting to live in the here and now.

No one knows the times, not even the Son of Man. It is about meeting Christ, who said: I will be with you till end of time. Can we call this waiting a preparation or a purification or a tuning ourselves to see and sense that big moment? The disciples had those moments. They exclaimed: it is the Lord. What we can expect is, undergoing a paradigm shift or shifts, a renewing of the old and finding within ourselves the kingdom, the Kingdom of peace. The experience of the Kingdom within, in the here and in the midst of bad times, prepares us for the bigger experience of the Kingdom. The little glimpses of love and of God, empowers to love and point out the Lord; and later behold the Second Coming, the New Kingdom of Peace and Love.

Seek the Lord and He will find you. Seek the coming of the Kingdom, and the Kingdom will come to you. Recalling Mt 6:33, “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God”. Do not be anxious about the Coming. Live well and it will come to you.

The experience of His Coming within us, opens us to behold His Coming out there.