Memorial of Saint Gregory the Great
(I Thessalonians 5:1-6.9-11; Luke 4:31-37)
Every once in a while the work of Nostradamus, a
sixteenth century French writer, is dusted off to make a prediction of the end
of the world. The supposed seer wrote a
thousand verses of poetry that are interpreted, most always after the fact, to
have prophesized the future. But little from his work can be taken with prior
precision to say when or even what events will occur. In the first reading of today’s mass St. Paul
tells his readers to dismiss such foretellings of the imminent end of the
world.
Paul echoes Jesus in saying that the end will come like a
“thief at night.” His readers are thus
to stand ready at all times to greet the Lord when he arrives to claim his
own. Paul evidently believes that the
end will come sooner rather than later, but his point is that the Thessalonians
should not make special preparation for that end. Rather, he advises that they stand semper fidelis by living as “children of
the light.” That is, he wants the
Thessalonians to be a showcase of charity and peace.
We do not know when the world will end. Scientists predict that in hundreds of
millions of years the sun will run out of fuel, expand, and engulf the earth in
flames before it burns out. But that is
only one scenario. It is also possible
that the end will come about by a colossal meteor colliding with the earth. What is more likely is that humans will end
life on earth through nuclear weapons.
We are wise to stay prepared as Paul tells us. There is no need to live in perpetual fear,
but there is real reason to practice charity and peace.
