The Sunday Sermon Archive

Dear Friend,

"There shall be signs in the sun and in the moon, and in the stars." Christ has said: "The sun shall be darkened, the moon shall not give her light; the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven shall be moved." St. John, having seen these things in a vision, says: "The sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the whole moon became as blood, and the stars from heaven fell upon the earth, as the fig-tree casteth its green figs when shaken by a great wind."

All the heavenly bodies will leave their accustomed orbits, and clash one against another, producing a confusion and destruction, of which two trains rushing against each other can give but a faint idea. St. Jerome tells us this will take place so that, we shall be punished by everything, because we have sinned in everything that what is written may be fulfilled: "The whole world shall fight with him against the unwise." Men abuse the sun, moon, and stars, sinning day and night; therefore God will make use of these heavenly bodies, profaned by the vices and crimes of men, to punish impenitent sinners. The sun will be darkened, the moon will not giver her friendly light, and not a star will be seen in the firmament. How will men feel when they remember their sins, the mute witnesses of which were the sun, moon, and stars? Oh, Christians, abuse not the light of day and the darkness of night by the commission of sin. Whilst all the heavenly bodies are disturbed and about to be dissolved, the earth will also be drawn into sympathy. It will shake and tremble, not as it does now, here and there, but over its entire surface, in a most dreadful manner. Whole cities will be laid in ruins, and people without number will be buried beneath them; rivers will leave their accustomed channels and overflow their banks, while the ocean, foaming with fury and swelling high above the tops of the mountains, will burst from its bed and roll over kingdoms and empires, carrying numberless corpses with it; fire will fall from heaven, and will meet other fire rushing from the bowels of the earth, and everything within its reach will be devoured and consumed. Winds will break down whole forests like a reed, and the strongest buildings will fall to the ground; hunger and pestilence will rage on the whole earth and snatch away millions of men. Yes, the unfettered elements, inflamed by the wrath of God, will spread ruin and desolation over the whole world; for, as Christ says: "There shall be then great tribulation, such as hath not been from the beginning of the world until now, neither shall be; and unless those days had been shortened, no flesh should be saved."

Who can think of these frightful events without fear and trembling? We can lull ourselves to sleep in our sin by suggesting that these things are a long way off, and perhaps we may never live to see them. Whether they are far off or near no one knows, but even if they are a thousand years away from now, what is certain is that when we die this will be the end for us. When we die the sun will no longer shine for us, the moon will no longer give her light for us, etc. Our body is placed in the grave, our soul appears before the tribunal of God. Oh, ponder well this truth, and act accordingly. Let us not love this world inordinately, nor for fleeting pleasures offend our Lord and God, and lose on account of temporal things those which are eternal. The occurrences immediately before the coming of Christ will also take place at the death of every man. The wicked, when these things come to pass before the last judgment, will be seized with fear, terror, and anguish; for these events will announce not only their temporal, but also their eternal perdition; but the just filled with sweet hope, will lift up their heads _ for only a short combat _ then eternal triumph and victory. The same may be said of death. How do the wicked die? The psalms tell us: "The death of the wicked is very evil."

Christ is preparing us for His second coming as we are beginning to prepare to celebrate His first coming. At His first coming the world was quiet and at peace. His second coming will be just the opposite. The first coming was ignored or hidden from the eyes of the people. When He next returns no one will be able to ignore Him, nor will He be hidden. At his first coming we see that He is humble and the world is proud, the rolls will be reversed on the last day. The world will be humbled and will wish to hide away but will be unable. Christ will come in all His Heavenly Glory and the entire world will be focused upon Him.

His presence will be much easier to bear if we have lovingly looked upon Him and followed Him throughout our lives. This Advent let us look to Christ and follow Him in this world so that we may likewise follow Him into eternity. And then we will not fear or dread His coming, but on the contrary will confidently and lovingly look forward to the day when we can be eternally in the presence of God.

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