As we approach the liturgical year's end, the Church presents texts to reflect on the Second Coming, often called the Parousia. When we consider the end times, they are frequently portrayed as a doomsday, an upheaval, a catastrophe, or something to be feared. They conjure images of smoke, fire, flames, and excruciating noise.
However, this is not our Christian belief. Our Christian faith is that we are moving towards God, fulfilment, and living in the reign of God’s kingdom.
An image in the Gospel text captures, perhaps more accurately, the end time. Jesus speaks of the branches of the fig tree that become tender and shoots spring forth from them.
The Second Coming is not about
cataclysmic events; it is about the birth of the fullness of God’s reign. In other words, we are moving towards a new beginning. Our faith offers us the conviction that the world is not moving towards an end or annihilation but to a new beginning in which there is no way but the way of Jesus. We are heading into God's loving hands: a world of light, mercy, hope and love. The world as we know it might end, but this is not the end. We are journeying towards a Second
Coming that is a new beginning.
How have you imagined the Second Coming? Have you been, perhaps, anxious about what may happen? Can you hold firm to the conviction, our faith, that we are all journeying towards the reign of God, being held in the gentle hands of tender love? How does that make you feel?
Reflections by Russell Pollitt SJ
