The Coming Day (33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time)

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This reading continues the theme of the previous reading, which is the coming day when Christ returns and judges the world. St. Paul warns the Thessalonians against being lax when it comes to waiting for the day, but to remain vigilant so that they do not get swept away along with the rest of the world.

Paul tells us that this day will come like a thief in the night. This means that it will come suddenly and catch many of guard. Jesus taught in the Gospels that only the Father knows the day and hour this will happen (Matthew 24:36). Later on, before His ascension, His disciples asked Him when He would restore the Kingdom, to which He replied, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority” (Acts 1:7). It is precisely because we cannot know when He will return that we must remain vigilant. As Jesus taught: “Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect” (Matthew 24:44).

When that day comes, it will be a day of great distress. The Book of Revelation tells us that on that day, the Book of Life will be opened, and everyone whose name is not written there will be cast into the Lake of Fire (Revelation 20:15). By contrast, those whom Paul calls “children of the light” will be admitted to the New Jerusalem. There, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:4).

How can be sure that we will be admitted to Paradise? Jesus in the Gospel teaches that it is for those who are faithful with what God has entrusted to them. We must bear the fruits of repentance, for it is those fruits which will show that we are fit for eternal life, for without this holiness, no one may see God (Hebrews 12:14).

J. Luis Dizon