How to Prepare for the End of the World?
How to Prepare for the End of the World?
The Gospel reading for the 33rd Sunday of Ordinary always falls into the apocalyptic genre of biblical literature. In this Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus spoke of the coming destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD which for the First Christians was a sign that the world was coming to an end. Yet Jesus did not return after Jerusalem fell and so Christians have learned to see in the manifold wars, natural disasters, conflicts within the Church and ways in which society is drifting further away from God as signs that Jesus could return at any time as the judge of the living and the dead and so we must be ready and waiting for when that unknown hour will be upon us.
How then should we prepare for this Day of Days? St. Paul reminds us this Sunday that among the best ways to prepare for the Second Coming of Christ is to be busy about our daily tasks as Christians, from caring for our homes, working diligently at our jobs, seeking to avoid sin, caring for those in need and living as Christians should since if we are doing so than if Jesus were to return at any moment he would find us to be good and faithful servants who we doing what he expected of us.
But we must also pray as a necessary means to prepare to meet the Lord. Among the many forms of prayer that will help us prepare to meet the Lord is Eucharistic Adoration. Many are familiar with this practice while for others it is new concept. Essentially, Eucharistic Adoration is when someone comes to pray in front of the Blessed Sacrament where the Host is exposed in a metal cross like vessel called a Monstrance.
From the Latin word monstra, meaning to show, to adore the Eucharist in the Monstrance is about looking at the Face of God, in the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ present in the Sacred Host, though hidden under the appearance of bread. It is the closest experience we will have in this life to seeing Jesus face to face! Many spend time in adoration speaking with Christ in the depth of their hearts. Others take that time to read spiritual books, quietly pray the rosary, meditate on the Passion of Christ and consider what life will be like in the world to come. Or some simply look at the Host and know that Jesus loving looks back at them, allowing someone to rest and be refreshed in the Lord. However we adore the Lord, we will grow in our love for Him and prepare ourselves to meet him when our lives come to an end if we are alive when He returns in glory.
Please consider signing up for Eucharistic Adoration in our newly opened adoration chapel. Whether you have visited many times before or are doing so for the first time, may it a be a blessed experience of knowing God is near and you are loved.