It shall be a time unsurpassed in distress

(No, it's not the family gathering at Thanksgiving.)

Today's first reading (Daniel 12:1-3, from which the above title comes) and today's Gospel (Mark 13:24-32) both describe the end of the world with fearful language.

In the words of our Lord…

In those days after that tribulation
the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light,
and the stars will be falling from the sky,
and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.

And then they will see
'the Son of Man coming in the clouds'
with great power and glory...

And in the words of Daniel…

Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth
shall awake;
some shall live forever,
others shall be an everlasting horror and disgrace.

These apocalyptic visions are terrifying, but lest they be dismissed as bogeyman mythology, consider the horrors that the modern world has already unleashed upon us: from Mengele to Hiroshima to Pol Pot to Osama Bin Laden; consider the threat of nuclear proliferation in the hands of madmen, the totalitarianism of political correctness, the nihilism of ideological extremists ("scientific" or "faith-based"), or the deadly recklessness of irresponsibility in business, politics, or activism.

(And those are just the man-made global threats and do not include asteroids, calderas, and other natural acts of planet-wide extinction.)

One way or the other, our world is coming to an end: if only when we as individuals die.

Lord Jesus Christ, son of the living God, be merciful to me – a sinner.

Yet even the signs of impending apocalypse bring hope for the faithful.

In the same way,
when you see these things happening,
know that he is near...

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus, and have mercy on me.

Heaven and earth will pass away,
but my words will not pass away.

And so we have hope, no matter what terrors may beset us, as today's Psalm says (Psalm 16:5, 8-11)…

Therefore my heart is glad,
my soul rejoices;
my body also dwells secure,
For you will not abandon me to Sheol,
nor let your faithful servant see the pit.
You will show me the path to life,
abounding joy in your presence,
the delights at your right hand forever.

Even when the signs are foreboding, our Lord gives us reason to hope, to draw closer to him, to beg for his mercy, and to move forward in confidence.

In the same way,
when you see these things happening,
know that he is near...