Posted by The WORD in other words (2021) by Fr. Dindo Santiago, SVD (Japan)
Thursday 32nd Week in Ordinary Time
Photo: Holy Family Parish Church, Kinshasa, Congo
The future deeply fascinates us, arouses our curiosity, and impels us to seek, so as to ascertain, what it holds for us. Human beings of any culture at any point in history, even in the bible, have consulted soothsayers, fortune-tellers, astrologists, prophets, or seers.
We, who believe in the Lord and His words, still fall into the temptation of listening to eschatological predictions and be terrified by these. Some people follow closely and interpret prophecies of Nostradamus, especially those about the Anti-Christ.
You must have panicked with the rest of the world when some people announced the “end of the world” with the coming of the new millennium via the Y2K virus. Perhaps you became frightened of the world ending on the 21stof December 2012, a misinterpretation of the end of the Mayan calendar. Occasions like these have caused considerable confusion, panic, or even terror and death because of “false prophets,” proclaiming the “end of the world.”
No one knows when the kingdom of God will come and how it will be. But that does not mean that all we do is “eat, drink and be merry?” Indeed, we do not have to worry about when and how the end times will come. But like a good scout would say, let us “be prepared.” Our preparation has to be made daily. It is already revealed to us and is within us. We only have to live in our present moment imitating Him.
While addressing our current concerns, we journey believing in Him, observing His Word, and living like Him. Let us not allow anything to take us away from our reality, our focus, our essence as human beings, which is love for God and neighbor. Thus, don’t worry, be loving!
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