The End, The Beginning, The Rennaisance

The end is when?

26 “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.

28 “It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. 29 But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.

30 “It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On that day no one who is on the housetop, with possessions inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. 32 Remember Lot’s wife! 33 Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it. 34 I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. 35 Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left.” [36] [a]

37 “Where, Lord?” they asked.

He replied, “Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.”-Luke17:26-37

Nobody knows exactly when the end will come. They said it was in 2000. Some said it was in 2012. And still we are alive, doing our thing, and the year is 2014 already.

They said that when Jesus comes again, there will be much destruction and pain. Maybe yes, maybe no. But for me, when that day comes, it will be a day of rejoicing because the blind will see, the lame walk, the dead will rise again, perhaps many miracles will happen. When Jesus will come again and I would be there to witness it, I would say, "Lord, thank You! I'm coming home! Finally, I can see what Your disciples saw when they were with You." However, the coming of Jesus will spell destruction, panic and doom for those who live in sin and wickedness. Why? Because anybody who committed sin and wickedness, remained unrepentant until the end, knows that the time for judgment is at hand and it is not favorable. Their sins alone speak of the kind of judgment they deserve.

I believe I am saved. I know I have my own sins, but I repent and strive to be better. I am not saying that the sinners are doomed already - hey, I am a sinner myself. Rather, it is not too late to repent. It is not too late to change. It is not too late to acknowledge that God is alive and here with us. It is not too late to accept that Jesus is our Savior.

Do you want to be saved? Or do you want to suffer in eternal damnation?

Image courtesy: various artists

The New Renaissance

Renaissance!

13 When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 15 So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16 To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” 17 His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”[a]

18 The Jews then responded to him, “What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?”

19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”

20 They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” 21 But the temple he had spoken of was his body. 22 After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.-John2:13-22

The Gospel reading spoke of how Jesus cleared the Temple. Because it was time for the Jewish Passover, it was expected that many people would go to Jerusalem to participate in the feast, make offerings and sacrifices, and to pray. To make things more convenient, cattle, sheep and doves were just around the corner for the people to buy, and money-changers were there, too, to make exchanges easy. Instead of a house of prayer, it became a marketplace where business was the main priority.

How are we inside the Church? Is the Church a house of prayer, or is it a good place to gossip? Is the Church a house of prayer, or is it a good place to meet with friends, boyfriends/girlfriends? Is the Church a house of prayer, or is it a picnic place for the children?

Yes. If Jesus cleared the Temple, the Church is in need of clearing as well. But don't get me wrong because it is not the structure that needed clearing and cleansing but the people on it from the Mass celebrant down to each and every people inside the Church. How is our life? How is our heart? Are there things or sins that needed to be cleared? Jesus is inviting us to join the Renaissance. And it begins in our hearts and minds through the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Image courtesy: El Greco (Clearing of the Temple); artist