January 3, 2011 – Catechism 668-672
“Already the final age of the world is with us, and the renewal of the world is irrevocably under way; it is even now anticipated in a certain real way, for the Church on earth is endowed already with a sanctity that is real but imperfect." Here we have this type of language about the irrevocability of what has and is happening. The world is in the process of coming to an end. There is nothing we can do to stop it. Advent is a time of preparation, did we? Are we ready if it were all to end today? It has been so commercialized sometimes, the end, and how it will happen. I guess I have always pictured it as something like a bunch of clouds forming out of nothing, but things don’t get dark like they would on a cloudy day, but brighter than a really sunny day because the clouds are giving off their own light. Then, after that, I really haven’t got any thoughts on what it will be.
But that really isn’t scripturally based because I believe there is descriptions that it will be like lightning lighting up the sky. If you picture a strike of lightning, it last milliseconds. A strike of lightning, which lights up the entire world, and then it is over. What if that moment caught you in a sin? What if you were in the middle of a mortal sin? It almost makes you want to quit your job and spend every waking second in a confessional or adoration so you are not caught off guard.
But we can’t do that. That is the lesson from the Transfiguration. We are called to go back down the mountain, to live our life in the world, but not be of the world. To live our lives on constant alert that judgment may come at anytime. To live that way is a great example for others and will lead many to God. That is how we are called to stay awake, because we don’t know when it will happen and pray that the moment finds us ready.