Surely, I am coming quickly!

Welde Tensae

So, we have made one more week of the lent to get the opportunity to focus our senses on the end of the world. Praise be to God for the time of repentance he has given us.

We are now in the Mid- Lent and the week is DEBRE-ZEIT, to mean Mt. Olives. It has taken this name because the church devotes most of its weekly services to teach and remind the faithful of the Lord's teaching at Mt. Olives about His Second Advent to judge the wicked and the Dead.

That Judgment Day for which we Christians are always preparing was foretold by St. David at 1000 years B.C. As the Lord Christ has later taught about tat day at length, we have also got the lesson from the horse’s mouth. St. David says this: Our God shall come and shall not keep silent; Fire shall devour before Him, And, it shall be very tempestuous all around Him. Ps.5:3

When our God, Jesus Christ, came in human flesh, He behaved very peacefully like a lamb which does not resist when shaven off. In his ministry, He has "kept quite" and taught about his kingdom amidst derisions and persecution. He has tolerated all sorts of sufferings which, God willing, we will discuss in the Week of his Passiones (forth coming).

When our Lord comes again for his ultimate judgment, He will behave differently. He "shall not keep silent" and he will punish the evil with devouring fire. Having come for judgment, he will pass his ruling against those he quietly tolerated when they gave him all the suffering they could.  He will also pass his ruling for those who have tolerated sufferings following his example and hoping for the reward he will give them. He will treat the world with a divine might, fire that devours all those who treated their fellow men in cruelty and the words of Christ in utter disrespect will be sent to hell.

Our Lord does pass this measure only after having taught us through his prophets, by himself and via his apostles. When He was asked during his ministry about the End of the world, he has taught it at length at Mt. olives, succinctly pointing out the signs and eventualities of that unspeakably awesome Day! Many indicators have been given by the Lord to show the coming of the age, as we read from Mt.chap.24:1- the end

1- Deception: - As the Lord said, many will deceive in his name. This is now under fulfillment in our time, because we hear many claiming to be not just saints but the Christ Himself. Still many are reproducing their heresies to confuse souls, as to the where about of Christ. Our Lord has summarily told us not to trust them for they have come as condemned signs of the Age.

2- Wars: - Tune in to any news channel and you could easily realize that a good chunk of the media time is devoted to talk about wars. We hear of terror at national, regional and international levels. Thus, the other symptom of the age is also prominently noticeable in our time. This is supplemented by news of famine, earth quakes and other causes of calamities. Very little is done to concretize peace though there may be a lot of talk about it as well. The action on the ground is one of warring and not of peacemaking.

3- Suffering of believers: - In many parts of the world, followers of God are being persecuted. Their churches, personal wealth and even life is a victim of the intensified attack of the Godless.

4- Abomination of desolation: - This was prophesied to stand in the Holy place (by Daniel). Now, it is being fulfilled. The holy place of God is being ransacked; the so called holy fathers do not have a holy life; many are infiltrating into the church to make it a political forum, etc. All this is a manifestation of the abomination of desolation.

Christ's warning

When a believer sees such signs, he is expected to be even stronger in faith and not to loose his track. He has to steadfastly wait for Christ to come and reward him for what he has labored for:

1- Flee to mountains and not go down if you are already there: - Mountain, being seat at a high altitude indicates glory. So, the advice is work for glory in the faith and do not relegate yourself if you have holy status. Tolerate all the trials and tribulations until Christ comes.

2- Not during pregnancy, nursing, sabath and/or winter: - Our Lord has advised not to see such a day of judgment during pregnancy, sabath and winter. The three symbolically represent being unprepared for the judgment. Pregnancy and nursing have been used to represent difficulty it poses during uncomfortable times. As it becomes so difficult for and expectant mother and for one nursing a baby to be treated with delicacy, so is it difficult for teachers to show the way of God and beget children of the faith. Again, woe to those who conceive heresies and nurse them to dissuade souls from the straight path of Christ: they will face condemnation. Winter is a period of vegetation, and not fruition so, the Lord is advising us to pray to show fruition before he comes. Sabath is a day when one becomes off work and engages in little action. The Lord is advising us to pray for his coming when we are spiritually on duty and not idle as the way the Jews observed the Sabbath.

3- Pray to Have more of the elect: - It is the prayer of the elect that could make the harsh days short. So, we need to pray to have more holy souls from among us to make the testing time shorter.

4- Ever Readiness: - It is only God who knows when exactly when He is coming we are, thus, warned to be ready for he may come any time. We may even be short lived by physical death before concluding our spiritual engagements.

These are some, only some, of the points that we could decipher from the Lord's teaching regarding the end of the Age. The Lord's coming being like that of a thief, and thus done at an unexpected time, we have to be ready. Our readiness is manifested in leading a life worthy of standing to the Lord's right, against those condemned to stand at  His left. Like the five wise virgins who prepared themselves for the reception of the groom in contradiction with the other five who squandered their time only to be shocked in his unexpected arrival, we have to be ready every time. Mt.25:1-134.

As part and parcel of the fulfillment of the signs for the end of the Age, persecutions against the faithful are becoming so rampant. This is because the persecutors have vowed to live up to the diabolic roles of their cruel fathers who used to harass the apostles such as St. Paul. Acts 24:1-22. As the signs become more profound, we need to persevere in hope. As St. Paul writes, we should not be ignorant of those who have fallen asleep, for they will rise in God just like Christ, as the trend-setter of resurrection did. This gives us hope and energy to overcome the sufferings this world might pose against us only because we confess in Christ. 1Tes. 4:3.

To sum up, days added to our lives for repentance should be devoted for the intended providence. We shall be ready for the Lord's glorious coming, a coming which may take us by surprise as a thief does to an unprepared guard or owner. We are created for hope. This hope is fulfilled only if we stop hibernation and repent as the kingdom of God is at hand.  2Pet. 3:7-15: Mt. 3:2.  Two thousand years ago, the closeness of the kingdom has been preached. We could imagine how close it could be now and we shall lead an even holier life worthy of our brand, Christianity.

We have quoted a verse from the Revelation as a heading to this piece. In this verse, St. John tells us that the Lord is coming; He is not just coming; he is coming quickly. If his coming is quick, our pace of spiritual activity should accordingly be quicker. It is only to day or this time that we surely have at our disposal. The activity of cleansing our selves to receive the Lord needs to be done quickly and right now. We are witnessing at least most of the witnesses the Lord Christ has given for the coming of the Age. It is up to us to take the due action, which is nothing but repentance, before we are overtaken by time and conditions. If we have to fight, work, learn, etc. spiritually, it shall never be procrastinated, for tomorrow might not be ours. Let us diligently and vigorously work in the faith both personally and together with our fellows, to win the kingdom of God and not find ourselves in the mercy of the merciless Devil. O, Lord, help us stand to your right as part of the virtuous souls, Amen!!

May God Bless us, Amen.