Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, 

“[F]or at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come” (Mt. 24:44).

On May 19th, 1780 in Hartford Connecticut there was a mysterious event that took place, a day of unexplained darkness. 

As the daytime hours of blackness wore on, some people, according to historical accounts, began to think that there might never be light again. Crickets began chirping. Cows wandered back to their barnyard stalls. Chickens retired to roost. There was widespread supposition that Judgment Day may have come. 

The Connecticut legislature was in session during this time, and many wanted to adjourn the proceedings. Abraham Davenport rose to vigorously oppose his colleagues' wish to adjourn: "I am against adjournment.” he said,  “The day of judgment is either approaching, or it is not. If it is not, there is no cause for adjournment; if it is, I choose to be found doing my duty."  Then he asked for candles to be brought. 

The blackness would last for the rest of the afternoon, past twilight and into full night. The next day, the sun would return. People hurried to churches to offer prayers of thanksgiving. 

The reasons for this day of darkness is shrouded in mystery.  Many today believe that it was from a combination of fog and smoke from forest fires in Ontario. But it is understandable that people might have thought that it was the end of the world. We take for granted, today, that we can communicate across vast distances, and we have early warning of bad weather, or natural disasters. 

There are many ideas about what the day of judgement will be like. Our Gospel reading today from Matthew’s Gospel is a fascinating teaching on the coming of the Son of Man, Our Lord Jesus Christ.  It speaks about the 2nd coming of the Lord. In some protestant circles this reading might seem to support the idea of the rapture.  What is this concept of the rapture?  At the end, surrounding the time of the Great Tribulation, spoken of in the book of Revelation, there will actually be two distinct events.  Before Christ’s second coming there will be a rapture event in which Christ would assemble all Christians living and dead, with Him in heaven, before a time of tribulation is imposed upon the earth, after that thousand year period, the Lord would return in his Second coming.  So all the good people will be whisked away to heaven, and the bad will be left behind to endure the time of Great Tribulation.  Just to be clear, we as Catholics do not subscribe to this interpretation.   

Another interesting idea about the second coming of Christ, that I read about many years ago, was in a book entitled “Catholic Prophesy.”  I was probably in my late teens when I read it.  A relative had given it to me.  The book explained about a coming time of tribulation which would begin with three days of darkness.  Apparently, there would be some sign in the sky to signal the event, there would be this intense period when the stars would fall from the sky.  No electrical appliances would work.  One needed to have blessed candles, and only these would be able provide light in the homes.  There would be three days of intense darkness in which the faithful would be boarded up in their homes, and those who paid heed to the prophesy, and had their homes prepared with extra food and supplies would be the ones that would remain.  Many other  people would be wiped out.  Something like two thirds of the population would be wiped out.  After this time, nothing electric would work, and society would be forced back to a simpler time. 

I must admit, after reading that book, there was a little while that I got caught up in some of that.  I was thinking about how I should prepare for this post-apocalyptic world.  I was even studying a little bit on how one would survive in such a time ... wondering things like... where does soap come from?  What if I had to make it myself?   

It lends itself to the mentality of the doomsday preppers, building their houses underground, filling it with supplies, fortifying it with weapons, preparing for the worst.   

You know, if I would have stayed in that mentality ... I probably would never have become a priest, and well, those in charge probably wouldn’t have let me stay in the seminary.  And I probably would not have actually lived life; I would have been preparing for some event that may or may not come.  Looking at it now, I can see that the book was not well researched.  A lot of things were thrown together to try to fit a particular thesis. The idea of it seemed to mirror in some way the exodus event of the Jews in the Old Testament. 

Anyway, it is interesting to me how this book of “Catholic Prophesy” is just the opposite view of the protestant rapture idea.  In this instance, it isn’t the faithful that are taken away, it is the evil doers that are taken away … they are purged during those three days of darkness. And when those days are over, the faithful emerge from their bunkers to a world without electricity … a faithful remnant.  Sure, there is something appealing about all that, I suppose.  There is something appealing about starting over with just the basics, some kind of fresh start. 

Either way, whether we look at the concept of the rapture event, or of the three days of darkness, the problem with either of these ideas is that they are very pessimistic in their outlook.  They both present God as disgusted with the world and unable to hold back his wrath. The other problem, as I see it, is that these ideas encourage one not to try to sanctify the world, but instead to turn inwards and hide from the world.  They encourage one to circle up the wagons and focus on self preservation.  The Church, however, by its very nature is outward looking.  It is missionary by its very nature.   

If we want to speak of a remnant, I would say that the Church is already a kind of counter cultural remnant of the faithful, and, rather than turning inwards, this should impel us to go out and evangelize the world, just as the apostles did. 

The Church’s position on the second coming of Christ is that: That when the Lord comes, it will be the final judgement for both the living and the dead.  There will be a time of tribulation before hand, some think that we are already in it; I don’t know, I suspect that that time has not yet arrived, but whenever it arrives, we will all, the faithful and the unfaithful, will endure it together until our Lord comes again. 

Anyway, the point is that we want to be busy about the Lord’s work now rather than waiting for some rapture event or some three days of darkness, because wo do not know when the Lord will come. 

The word “Advent” comes from the Latin word advenio which means “to come.”  It is, of course, referring to the coming of Christ.  When we think of the coming of Christ, perhaps the first thing that comes to our mind is His second coming.  But more immediately, we think of the coming of Christ at Christmas.  Also, we can reflect upon the coming of Christ in the sacraments, especially the Sacrament of Holy Communion. 

This season of Advent invites us to think about and focus on the intermediate coming of the Lord.  We prepare for his coming at Christmas liturgically, which is an invitation for us to be preparing our hearts to receive him.   

Here is the beautiful thing to think about … if we are prepared for this intermediate coming of the Lord, we don’t have to worry about the final coming of the Lord, because we will already be ready. 

So, how do were prepare for the coming of the Lord?  Here are some guidelines or rules I’ll lay out for you. 

(Rule One): Be sure you are in a state of grace.  If you are not then go to confession.  If you are not sure, then go to confession.  If you are in a state of grace, and it has been a while, go to confession.  I think that you are sensing a theme there. Go to confession! Be in a state of grace. 

(Rule Two): Go to Mass every Sunday and Holy Days of Obligation!  If you have missed on Sunday or a Holy Day of Obligation for an invalid reason, then refer to rule one, go to confession. We need that Grace.  Besides, it is one of the precepts of the Church. Go to Mass. 

(Rule three): Pray. Make sure you have some dedicated time each to do pray.  Pray the Rosary! Read the Scriptures! Spend time in adoration.  Pray! 

(Rule four): Provide for the material needs of the Church … provide for charity … as you are able.  Provide for the material needs of the Church. It is a precept of the Church. 

(Rule five): Live out duties according to your vocation.  If you are married, be faithful to your marriage vows. If you have children, care for their material needs, and spiritual needs, teach them in the faith, bring them to Church.  If you are single: live a chaste life.  If you are divorced: live a chaste life. See rules 1 through 4. Live out your vocation. If you are married with kids, your vocation is not to live like a monk. If your vocation is to be a monk, then don’t live as a bachelor or a married man. Live out your vocation. 

(Rule six): Do an examination of conscience at the end of the day.  This way you will know the ways that you have failed during the day and can resolve to do better tomorrow.  You will know the things that you did right, and continue on that path. Do an examination of conscience at the end of the day. This will assist you in carrying out rule one, going to confession. 

So those are my recommendations for you all to be prepared for the coming of the Lord. 1. be in a state of grace. 2. Go to Mass. 3. Pray. 4. Provide for the needs of the Church. 5. Live your vocation. 6. Examine your conscience. 

Do these things and it will assist you to be ready for the coming of our Lord at Christmas, which means you’ll be ready for when he comes at the end of time. “[F]or at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come” (Mt. 24:44). 

So let us follow St. Paul’s counsel in our second reading today: “Let us throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us conduct ourselves properly as in the day … making no provision for the desires of the flesh.” (Rom. 13: 13-14). 

-Fr. Ron Nelson