Gospel: Mark 13:24-32
Jesus said to his disciples: "In those
days after that tribulation the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not
give its light, and the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers in
the heavens will be shaken. "And then they will see 'the Son of Man coming
in the clouds' with great power and glory, and then he will send out the angels
and gather his elect from the four winds, from the end of the earth to the end
of the sky.
"Learn a lesson from the fig tree. When
its branch becomes tender and sprouts leaves, you know that summer is near. In
the same way, when you see these things happening, know that he is near, at the
gates. Amen, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these
things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not
pass away. "But of that day or hour, no one knows, neither the angels in
heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father."
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Reflection:
Every now and then there are movies with end
times' story lines such as extensive flooding, hunger, tsunami disasters, wars
and the like. This is not only happening in movie themes, this is in fact
already part of our life’s reality. Just watch the news and you will see many
depressing situations. What if these frightening events that we see are really
signs of the end times? Are we ready for it?
All of us perhaps are not yet ready for these
end times scenarios and all of us are not yet ready for these end times
pronouncement by Jesus in the gospel. He tells us this: "In those days
after that tribulation the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its
light, and the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers in the
heavens will be shaken(Mark 13:24-25)." This is unimaginable and
horrifying, but what if it suddenly comes like a thief in the night? What will
happen to us? Where would we end up?
We may not all be ready for these horrific
events, we may lose sleep thinking about these dreadful scenarios. But for so
long as we have God in our hearts and for so long as we live within the ambit
of His teachings. We need not worry for God will give us faith to endure all of
these tribulations. He will give us peace in the midst of the absence of peace
in our hearts.
But often times we forget the power
of God over everything that happens and exists in this world. We often times
forget that God is above all these tribulations. Yes, all of these may happen
at a time when we least expect it but if we have faith we have nothing to
worry. If we love and believe in Jesus we have nothing to worry.
Let us always learn to give all our worries to
God, let us always learn to invite Him to dwell into our hearts. By doing so we
will not dread anything even the horrific end times we will not fear.
Do you always pray to the Lord and ask Him to
come in to your life? Do you always ask Him to make you strong in the midst of
the tribulations and problems in your life? – Marino J. Dasmarinas
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