The Second Coming of Jesus

Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator

In yesterday’s blog posting, I tried to point out why St. Paul wrote a second time to the Thessalonians. Today’s reading from the second letter to that community illustrates the central point of the letter: We ask you, brothers, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our assembling with him,not to be shaken out of your minds suddenly, or to be alarmed either by a "spirit," or by an oral statement, or by a letter allegedly from us to the effect that the day of the Lord is at hand.

Ever since Jesus returned to the Father, it seems that his followers have always included those who spend an inordinate amount of time trying to predict or discern when He will come again. It continues to the present day despite the various passages in the Christian Scriptures that attempt to persuade us to turn our attention to pursuits that are more in keeping with our baptismal profession.

Perhaps the most disturbing result of such attempts to predict the Second Coming is the fact that certain people have been persuaded to empty their bank accounts and to max out their credit cards because they will never have to rely upon their financial resources again. However, another disturbing effect is that it gives others the excuse they need to fail to come to the aid of the poor among us, to work for the preservation of our environment, and a myriad of other tasks to which Jesus and the sacred writers of the Scriptures direct us.

True disciples of Jesus believe in the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus. However, they are also content to wait for that day with patience and with hope.