Luke 12
Some of us may subscribe to religious email lists that often inform about ‘message from the Blessed Mother about impending punishments of God’. Many Christians tend to regard signs of the time as signals for the end of time only. But if we only think about the General Judgment, that is, the final judgment at the second coming of the Lord, sooner or later, our heightened interest or expectation deflates and wanes away, for the end doesn’t come as we anticipate.
The signs of the present time mainly awaken us from a spiritual slumber. First, they remind us of how close our personal judgment is at our death. As we see in this pandemic, people can become infected and die just by going to a garden party or a BBQ dinner with neighbours. The pandemic wakes us up from a false sense of security and a mistaken idea of normalcy. Death is all around us at all times. Our judgment is standby without a break. Am I ready for it?
Second, the signs of the present time reveal the sinfulness of our times. Most signs of the time are unpleasant and fearful. But many of them originate from men. There are hardly any signs without human elements. Many of them carries oppression and exploitation. Is this pandemic a purely natural phenomenon? The virus itself is a natural existence. However, how we worsen the pandemic or stop it hugely depends on human decisions. When we see these signs rising, we should examine ourselves for sins and vices.
Jesus uses strong language today in the gospel. “I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the very last penny.” Jesus warns that ‘the very last penny’, in other words, the smallest sins have the price to pay. Unless we are completely purified here on earth, we don’t expect to enter heaven directly. Am I willing to pay them in the purifying fire of purgatory? Jesus advises us to make a settlement on the way. And the Church always keeps the door of confessionals open.
It is of no question whether we have signs of our times. It’s time to wake up. “And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘there will be scorching heat’; and it happens.”
