Look No Further, Repent Now And Be Saved!

Romans 7:18-25
Luke 12:54-59

After Christ has spoken to his disciples, He then turns to the crowd to teach them about world affairs at large with the parousia. The audience strives through agricultural means and is aware of the climatic change so Christ refers to this event with his second coming which of course would be plausible and logical to apply. When evaporation and condensation take place, the clouds rise in the West from the sea then showers could be expected. Likewise, a Southern wind would indicate hot weather because there lay the vast, deserts.

As a result, they could either house their crops or carry them for a journey. They could make hay while the sun shines or keep them in store. Consequently, if they are weather-wise, observing the winds and clouds that there could be rain or hot weather, He also expects them to be able to ascertain the signs of His coming and that of the final days. He would prefer to have them be wise in the affairs of their souls as they are with the weather forecast.

However, we all know that nature is not tied to such a track because it is unpredictable. Christ wants them to discern the way of salvation and to see it as a privilege because we do not know the day nor the hour when He shall come again. If God has made it so that the weather can change at any time, by implication, Now is the acceptable time. This is the day of salvation. It is now or never.

Each generation of mankind feels superior intellectually to the generations before their time because we stand on the shoulders of those who went before us and shared their gained knowledge which we then built upon. This we refer to as civilization. One may smugly assume that we have over two thousand years of knowledge, built up like Lego blocks, on which we stand to understand and see the signs Christ spoke of more clearly.
I think we too must be missing quite a few of those knowledge blocks in our generation. The people Christ spoke to, including his disciples, did not understand, and all these centuries later, neither do I. 

The same idea could be inferred as captured by Paul in today’s first reading. He described the conflict between grace and the corruption in the heart, a dilemma between following the right and doing the wrong things, between the law of God and sin. This is a struggle that is in a renewed soul and yet in a state of imperfection. One may have a desire for holiness and yet it is overpowered by the inordinate passion of sin. It is a result of indwelling corruption in the heart and it is by grace, obedience, and striving to follow the right path that helps us in our faith struggle and salvation journey. Using the words of St. John Paul II we can rightly say, “Darkness can only be scattered by light, hatred can only be conquered by love.”

One thing is clear, I know that real understanding is a journey, in which that journey is just as important as the destination.  So, we do not look for signs that point to the end of times but for signs that point out the right path.  It is your light Lord on my path that I pray for today, for You are the way, the truth, and the light. If we can stay on the right path, then we don’t need to worry about the final days, the end of times. Jesus The Way, will get us where we need to be. Mother Mary help us now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Fr Joseph Osho