St. Anthony the Abbot Catholic Church

These words of our Lord were spoken at the very end of His earthly life, just a few days before His crucifixion. His main point is that with His death and resurrection the Old Covenant will end, and the New Covenant, the age of the Church, will begin. This will be the last period of salvation history.

 

In this period, God’s saving grace will gradually spread throughout the world, and the powers of evil will desperately, and unsuccessfully, battle against it. At the end of the age of the Church, Christ will return to bring all human history to its culmination.

 

Exactly when that will happen is shrouded in mystery, no one but the Father knows. What Jesus wants to make sure His Apostles understand is that it will occur, and He wants them to be ready for it at all times He actually finishes the discourse by saying: “Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come.”

 

We do not know, because we do not need to know.

 

God has seen fit to assure us that history has a purpose, and that it will come to an end, and that we should always keep this in mind. Through the ages, many Christians have become obsessed with the details of how and when this will occur, often neglecting the whole point of this datum of revelation. It is enough for us to know that we are part of a story that has meaning and that it will come to a definitive end, such that the sun and moon and stars will be darkened – the whole order of creation will be transformed. At that time, we will receive just recompense for how we carried out our role in the story. It’s that simple, and it’s that momentous.

 

A painting by the remarkable nineteenth century British artist Sir John Everett Millais captures the lesson our Lord is trying to teach us.

 

It is called The Vale of Rest and it is held by the Tate Gallery in London. It refers to an old Scottish superstition that when a coffin-shaped cloud is seen in the sky, it means an approaching death. The painting shows the cemetery of a convent, with a few crooked old headstones. In the background the sun is setting, and the tall trees growing near the convent wall are sharply, blackly silhouetted. One dark cloud blotches the brilliant sunset, and it is in the shape of a coffin.

 

In the foreground are two nuns. The younger nun is knee-deep in a grave, digging vigorously, her veil tucked back out of the way – she is working hard, serving her neighbor. Sitting on a headstone beside her is an older nun, holding a rosary – praying hard, serving the Lord. The sitting nun is staring right out of the canvas, directly at the onlooker. Her face is hard to read, but it seems to be anxious and intent.

 

She has seen the coffin-shaped cloud, and she seems to know who the grave is for: maybe for her, maybe for a dying sister in the convent, but also maybe for the intruder on the scene – us. We do not know the day or the hour, but we know the fact: Jesus will come again; history will end; the sun will set, and God wants us to stay ready, both by working and by praying.