WITH POWER AND GLORY
You are my
inheritance, O Lord. Therefore my heart is glad and my soul rejoices!
In today's Gospel:
Jesus describes Himself at the final days. "They will see the Son of Man
coming in clouds with great power and glory."
Usually the thought
of the last days inspires us with a healthy fear of the Lord. My thought for
today is that the same second coming of Christ should also give us Christians
who try to serve our God - great hope and joyful expectation. It is something
like the hope in our hearts when we have a loved one who becomes very ill and
we pray for them to become well again. For us who follow Christ Jesus the
thought of the last days should be a joyful happy one. That is the theme of the
words we pray right after the Our Father at every Mass.
"By the help of your mercy,
we may be always free from sin
and safe from all distress,
as we await the blessed hope
and the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ."
Then we all pray in
one voice:
"For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are Yours, now and
forever."
The image of the
Fig Tree in our Gospel reading tells us that it's a common and important source
of food for the Jews. It bore fruit twice a year, in the autumn and in the
early spring. This parable tells the joy of God's kingdom---the joy of new life
and the promise of a new age of peace and blessing.
Points to Pray and Ponder: We are called to live forever in this light and
joy of God's kingdom! In the Responsorial Psalm let us pray: You are my
inheritance, O Lord. Therefore my heart is glad and my soul rejoices!