The end of times¶
Saturday, November 27, 2021 (04:51). Joseph Bastin published a speech about the end of times and I think it is worth to get translated to English:
During the pandemic there are people who speak about the end of times.
We speculate “What is this end of times?”
But when you study the Bible carefully, e.g. Matthew and Daniel,
the apocalyptic language does not speak about the future,
it speaks about the present, the today.
It makes no sense to try to predict a time for the end of the world.
The end of times is reality already now, within our lifetime.
We live in it since our baptism.[1]
Only prophets of misfortune, wicked people, try to nourish fear and anguish when they announce an end of times.
The end has actually already arrived, the salvation is already here.
Already 2000 years ago Jesus has opened –inaugurated– the end of times.
And forgiveness has already been granted.
The salvation is there for us.
Our sins no longer demand any sacrifice.
The end of times is already here, but it is not yet visible to our eyes.
It has not yet become a reality in our heart.
The apocalyptic language reveals –unveils– in us
not the future (something to come) but something that has not yet happened.
Pessimistic Christians are not yet evangelized.
Our eyes still blinded, our hearts still obscured and deaf:
these are the obstacles to the deployment of the Kingdom.
The apocalyptic language is not a language of catastrophes or fears,
it announces the revelation within these catastrophes.
We do live in catastrophes
It is not needed to announce them since we live already in them.
The announcement is: open your eyes, straighten up, stand up, look up!
Remember, recall: we are already saved.
Behind the clouds God is there in all his splendidness.
The apocalyptic view is to perceive the things around us with a deeper meaning of light and love.
And it’s our job to make it visible by our faith, our proclamation.
Let us learn to contemplate God’s glory in our lifetime, in the situations we live.
We will then realize that the joy is much stronger than everything that makes us fear.
We refuse the fear, but we accept the fear of being afraid.
Footnotes