Know that he is near

"Learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branch becomes tender and sprouts leaves, you know that summer is near. In the same way, when you see these things happening, know that he is near, at the gates.” (Mark 13:28,29)

Reflection

Recently one of my Facebook friends posted the following line on his page:  “I wonder how I will die...anyone else ever think about that?”

On first face, you might think such a posting is a morbid thought, or that no one else ever thinks about the “end times.”  But I think everybody wonders about the future, confronted as we are by the cold and sorrowful circumstances around us.  Sometimes too those thoughts lead to fear and obsessive meanderings.  We fear we might be cast away and sent far from God and loved ones. Left out in the cold.

But the Lord is not one to lead us to despair about the future:  whether it be the fate of the whole world, or our own days ahead.  No, the words of Jesus to His disciples are those of Courage.  The apocalyptic style of writing was used to encourage and strengthen people in times of questioning and persecution. 

My Facebook friend wonders a common question:  what does the future hold for me?  Let us find hope in the words of Jesus who tells us God will be near to us, and he will gather us to Himself from all the various winds and motions of chaos.  As we anticipate the cold and chilly, dark storms of winter, “know that summer is near.”  In the same way, “know that he is near, at the gates.”  Keep in mind the open pasture where “You will show me the path to life, fullness of joy in your presence.” (Ps 16)