On the Coming of the Son of Man

Angelus Message – November 18, 2012

 

            Sunday’s Gospel, Mark 13:24-32, known as the “eschatological discourse” in which Jesus speaks of the end times, is described by Pope Benedict XVI as “probably the most difficult text in the Gospels”.  This difficultly, he acknowledges, lies in both the content and the language used.  Christ, when relating of the end times, speaks using Old Testament imagery about the tumult of nature, but does something different, too.  He adds Himself, the Son of Man, as the new center.  The Holy Father states, “The ‘Son of Man’ is Jesus Himself, who links the present with the future; the ancient words of the prophets have finally found a center in the person of the Messiah of Nazareth: he is the central event that, in the midst of the troubles of the world, remains the firm and stable point”.  Christ is our center, and in Him we trust.

            Reflecting on the words, “The sky and the earth will pass away but my words will not pass away”, the Holy Father speaks of the creative power of God’s Word.  His Word made the earth and all contained therein.  Christ is the Word, and the Word, because he is the Word made flesh, passes through his very being, his actions, and his human words, which direct and orient the “thought and path of man on earth”.  Oftentimes when we think of the end times, we think of different Hollywood movies or we think of the different, in a certain sense, worries or paranoia that develop.  The Holy Father teaches, though,

…Jesus does not describe the end of the world and when he uses apocalyptic images he does not conduct himself like a ‘visionary’.  On the contrary, he wants to take away the curiosity of his disciples in every age about dates and predictions, and wishes instead to give them a key to a deep, essential reading, and above all to indicate the right path to take, today and tomorrow, to enter into eternal life.  Everything passes – the Lord tells us – but God’s Word does not change, and before this Word each of us is responsible for his conduct.  It is on this basis that we will be judged.

He concludes saying that we all need a stable center for our life and our hope and our meaning because we find ourselves enveloped in relativism.  With the intercession and help of the Virgin Mary, may we accept this center found in Christ. 

Again, this week, the Holy Father spoke of another beatification, which took place on November 17, 2012 in Argentina!  Her name is Argentina Maria Crescencia Perez (1897-1932) of the Daughters of Mary Most Holy of the Garden.  Her motto was, “Do what God wants, want what God wants, and be where God wants”.  The Holy Father declared, “She lived in the first half of the last century and is a model of evangelical sweetness animated by faith.  Let us praise the Lord for her witness!”

Information and photo taken from http://www.sistersolg.org/pg_stsrcr_life.html.