Key:
What these passages tell us about God
What these passages tell us to do
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In those days, I Daniel, heard this word of the Lord: "At that time there shall arise Michael, the great prince, guardian of your people; it shall be a time unsurpassed in distress since nations began until that time. At that time your people shall escape, everyone who is found written in the book.
"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.
"But the wise shall shine brightly like the splendor of the firmament, and those who lead the many to justice shall be like the stars forever."
"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.
"But the wise shall shine brightly like the splendor of the firmament, and those who lead the many to justice shall be like the stars forever."
R.You are my inheritance, O Lord!
O LORD, my allotted portion and my cup, you it is who hold fast my lot.I set the LORD ever before me; with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed.
R. You are my inheritance, O Lord!
Therefore my heart is glad and my soul rejoices, my body, too, abides in confidence; because you will not abandon my soul to the netherworld, nor will you suffer your faithful one to undergo corruption.
R. You are my inheritance, O Lord!
You will show me the path to life, fullness of joys in your presence, the delights at your right hand forever.
R. You are my inheritance, O Lord!
O LORD, my allotted portion and my cup, you it is who hold fast my lot.I set the LORD ever before me; with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed.
R. You are my inheritance, O Lord!
Therefore my heart is glad and my soul rejoices, my body, too, abides in confidence; because you will not abandon my soul to the netherworld, nor will you suffer your faithful one to undergo corruption.
R. You are my inheritance, O Lord!
You will show me the path to life, fullness of joys in your presence, the delights at your right hand forever.
R. You are my inheritance, O Lord!
Every priest stands daily at his ministry, offering frequently those same sacrifices that can never take away sins. But this one offered one sacrifice for sins, and took his seat forever at the right hand of God; now he waits until his enemies are made his footstool. For by one offering he has made perfect forever those who are being consecrated.
Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer offering for sin.
Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer offering for sin.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to stand before the Son of Man.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
"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 then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the end of the earth to the end of the sky.
"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. Amen, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
"But of that day or hour, no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father."
"And then they will see 'the Son of Man coming in the clouds' with great power and glory, and then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the end of the earth to the end of the sky.
"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. Amen, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
"But of that day or hour, no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father."
These readings tell us about Jesus’ second coming, how He will deliver His people. They also tell us that we do not know when that will occur.
We must therefore continue to live our lives in the here and now. How do we do that? These readings, particularly the psalm, give us some instructions:
1. We must keep that ultimate end in mind. It is our “inheritance,” as the psalm puts it. This sounds a lot like the treasure in heaven Jesus tells us about in Matthew 6:20-21. Keeping that in mind is a powerful source of hope that can both combat despair and motivate us to do what God has called us to. That dynamic is described in Hebrews 12:2.
2. Faithfully doing what God calls us to now gives us a foretaste of the “joys” the psalm speaks of. God gives us some measure of joy when we faithfully do what He calls us to, even if that work is hard/unpleasant. That joy is like an advancement on our inheritance.
3. Remember that it is possible to be disinherited if we rebel against God’s loving directions. That both deprives us of our ultimate inheritance and the interim joy we just considered. How do we avoid that?
A. By keeping ourselves oriented to God, making Him our benchmark. We do that by “set[ting] the LORD ever before” us and living so that He is always “at [our] right hand,” as the psalm put it. The alleluia verse suggests the same thing when it tells us to be “vigilant at all times.”
B. By asking God for help. Pray. Ask Him to “show [you] the path of life,” as the psalm puts it, and for strength to follow that path as the alleluia verse suggests. God answers such prayers when they are sincerely made. See James 1:5, Proverbs 2:3-6, Wisdom 8:20-9:12, Luke 11:5-13.
C. By remember that God will welcome us back and restore our inheritance in spite of our missteps/rebellion if we sincerely repent and come back to Him. Remember the parable of the prodigal son Jesus told as about in Luke 15:11-24. God wants us to come back —that’s why He gave us the sacrament of confession. Using it not only restores our inheritance, it also gives us an advance on it. See A good confession is like restarting your computer and Confession also seems to be a lot like composting.
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