Today’s readings focus on the End of Time.

Our first reading is from the Apokalypsi, the Book of Revelation, in which John speaks of the fall of the city of Babylon. He paints a vivid picture of what will happen when it is destroyed. We are told that all the worldly things of Babylon will be coming to an end and will never be found, heard or seen again. Just when things seem their darkest, a loud voice announces from heaven that God is our salvation.

It seems that our society is fixated on the end of the world. My first memories of these fixations were at the turn of the millennium with the Y2K phenomenon. Several end-of-the-world scares later, we are now faced with the latest concern: December 21st, which marks the end of the Mayan calendar. It would seem that this fixation on predicting the end of the world is not a healthy thing.

Although we know not the hour, all worldly things will come to an end. On first glance, accepting this fact can seem very disheartening. Everything that we work for and strive to achieve is going to come to an end. This is where today’s Gospel from Luke comes in. Jesus speaks of the end of the world, but at the end of the reading He says, “But when these sings begin to happen, stand erect and raise you heads because your redemption is at hand.” Jesus is speaking of heaven and eternal life.

Today’s readings should bring our lives into perspective. At some point, our time in this world and the world itself will come to an end. Rather than focusing on when and how this end will come, we should focus on knowing, loving and serving God and each other so when our time on this world does come to an end, we can face Jesus and be judged on our actions here on Earth. The worldly things that we so often get distracted by will come to an end, but our relationship with God is forever.