Home Spirituality Life on Purpose Yes, the ‘end times’ are near

Yes, the ‘end times’ are near

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It’s hard to watch the news these days. Sometimes I feel like I’m watching a frightening movie play out on a big screen. Everywhere we look around the world, there are profound human tragedies and loss of life through violence, disease and natural disasters. The Middle East is exploding in war, in terror, with violence, bombing and torture. Women and children are being exploited and killed in gruesome acts of violence. Confirmed cases of Ebola, a deadly contagious disease has claimed over 1,000 lives in Africa and threatens exposure worldwide. In the U.S., economic struggles and unemployment contribute to a climate of violent protests over the conflicts between police and citizens. Children cross our borders alone, fleeing violence in Central America. Even the flash flooding this past week was like a scene out of a natural disaster movie. But it wasn’t a movie. Friends and families who had finally recovered from Sandy now find their homes flooded and in need of repair from the bizarre amount of rain that fell on the South Shore this week.

I have never been one to speculate on “end times prophecies” or wonder if we are living in the end times. In fact, I tend to reject things that focus on the end of the world and the urgent need for conversion. Rather motivate someone to an intimate relationship with Jesus, this approach frequently breeds fear and confusion and drives people away from a relationship with the Lord. However, it is a simple fact that every one of us faces our own personal end and it is true, that for most of us, we do not have a clue when our lives will end. Rather than speculating on “signs of the times,” shouldn’t we be focused on living our lives well in love that our parting may be a blessed remembrance of love and a joyful entry into eternal life?

Throughout history there have always been people who were fascinated with the end of the world. Medieval prophets like Nostradamus are quoted and analyzed even today for parallels in history and clues to the end of the world.

Even Jesus’ disciples were concerned with the end of the world.

“When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” Jesus answered them, “Beware that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Messiah and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not alarmed; for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places: all this is but the beginning of the birth pangs. Then they will hand you over to be tortured and will put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of my name. Then many will fall away, and they will betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because of the increase of lawlessness, the love of many will grow cold. The good news of the Kingdom will come and then the end will come.” (Matthew 24:3-13)

These descriptions of the end sound rather familiar and quite frightening when you consider the chaos in the world today. The truth is, we all are living in the end times, as did every person who has ever lived. As Jesus continued in his conversation with the disciples, “No one knows the day or the hour except the Father.” (Mt.24:36) One thing alone is for certain, we all will die one day and our hope is to live forever with God.

I have experienced the sudden tragic death of my sister who was hit by a drunk driver and the terminal illness which led to my father’s death in just 40 days from the time of diagnosis. My sister’s death was shocking and extremely untimely, leaving behind two young children. While there was no time to say goodbye, her death changed a small but profound detail in my father’s life immediately. Dad spent the next 20 years ending every conversation with “I love you,” a stark change from how he spoke for the first 60 years of his life. Though the time between his diagnosis and death left barely enough time to say goodbye, we all visited with him and I was even blessed to help him prepare the scriptures and the music for his funeral Mass. I was grateful to the Lord that I was able to pray with him to the moment of his final breath, an experience which changed my life forever.

While Jesus did promise to return and gave descriptions of a world gone mad, he also gave us the best response to the end of the world and our own personal end: “Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. Be ready.” (Mt.24:42,44)

We are saturated with images and stories of violence in movies and media. We become numb to it and are easily lulled to sleep rather than face the injustice and fearful realities that exist in our world. While we sleep, barbaric actions of torture are being imposed on women and children in Iraq, the Middle East is at war and in our own country, in our neighborhoods and in our families, pain and suffering tear us apart.

Jesus gave us a profound example of what it means to stay awake. He fed the hungry, helped the poor, healed the sick and proclaimed the Kingdom of God wherever he went. He was an obedient son and a faithful Jew, a good neighbor and an honest friend, ultimately offering his own life for us on the cross. He balanced his time of ministry and mission with a deep and abiding prayer life which revealed his secret to staying awake: his intimate relationship with God the Father. Jesus taught us how to stay awake and pray by approaching God as an intimate and loving Father, when he said:

“Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
 This, then, is how you should pray:
‘Our Father in heaven, 
hallowed be your name, 
your kingdom come, your will be done, 
on earth as it is in heaven.
 Give us today our daily bread. 
And forgive us our debts,
 as we also have forgiven our debtors. 
And lead us not into temptation, 
but deliver us from the evil one. (Matthew 6:8-13)

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops set aside today, August 17th as a day of prayer for peace in Iraq. Let us stay awake by praying as Jesus taught us, confident in God the Father’s love for all. Let us pray that the Kingdom of God, of love and justice and peace, in full relationship with the Lord, would come on earth as it is in heaven so that we might wake from our slumber and witness the coming peace of the Kingdom of God in our world.

 

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Eileen Benthal
Eileen is a writer, speaker and wellness coach with a bachelor’s degree in theology from Franciscan University. She and her husband Steve live in Jamesport and have four young adult children. Email Eileen