prepared for the last day. speaking of the uncertainty of the last day, and saying that no man nor angel knows anything about it, He adds: “Watch ye, therefore, because you know not what hour your Lord will come.”[1] Be ready like to a householder who expects a thief to break in, and knows not when he will come. “Watch ye, there fore,” He says, after having foretold the signs that are to precede, "(for you know not when the lord of the house cometh: at even, or at midnight, or at the cock-crowing, or in the morn ing), lest coming on a sudden He find you sleeping.”[2] And lest we should think this warning is intended only for the disciples, He adds the following words: “And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch;”[3] prepare yourselves for My coming; do penance for your sins; order your lives so now that when the Judge comes He may find you in the state of sanctifying grace; otherwise the fire that consumes your bodies shall be only a prelude to the eternal flames of hell.
A warning that concerns us, for we may, for all we know, live till the last day. But, you think, how does this concern us? It is of interest only for those who shall be in the world after the signs shall have vanished; there is no fear of our living till the last day. But, my dear brethren, who has told us that? Can any one produce a document to certify it? Have not most of the portents that announce the end of the world been seen already? Are they not still to be seen? “Nation shall rise against nation,” says Our Lord, speaking of the signs of the general judgment, “and kingdom against kingdom.” Has not sad experience already shown us the truth of this prophecy, and do we not even yet see it actually verified? “And there shall be great earthquakes in divers places, and pestilences and famines, and terrors from heaven, and there shall be great signs.”[4] Has not the world already beheld them? “And because iniquity hath abounded, the charity of many shall grow cold.”[5] Alas! is not this only too true, in our days, of many Catholics amongst the chosen people of God? Where do we find any characteristics of the early Christians, who had but one heart and one soul? Their very
- ↑ Vigilate ergo, quia nescitis qua hora Dominus vester venturus sit.—Matt. xxiv. 42.
- ↑ Vigilate ergo (nescitis enim quando dominus domus veniat: sero, an media nocte, an galli cantu, an mane), ne cum venerit repente, inveniat vos dormientes.—Mark xiii. 35, 36.
- ↑ Quod autem vobis dico, omnibus dico: Vigilate.—Ibid. 37.
- ↑ Surget gens contra gentem, et regnum adversus regnum. Et terræ motus magni erunt per loca, et pestilentiæ, et fames, terroresque de cœlo, et signa magna erunt.—Luke xxi. 10, 11.
- ↑ Et quoniam abundavit iniquitas, refrigescet caritas multorum.—Matt. xxiv. 12.
