Stopover 18

    At the Closure with Mary the Mother of Jesus

    (Parousia of Jesus)

    our host: Mary, the Mother of Jesus
     
    The Final Salvific Event

    All stories have a closure. Jesus’ story has. For the First Look, the closure occurs at the ‘coming again’ of Jesus. The Kingdom that was inaugurated at his first coming will be consummated at his second coming. Mary the mother of Jesus is our host and guide. She is the mother of the proclaimer. She is a person who, with a sword-pierced heart, witnessed the earthly closure of his mortal life on the hill of the skull. She is the person, according to Catholic tradition, who has already experienced the full redemption that we expect to be ours only at the ‘coming again’ of Jesus.

    Call to God’s Kingdom. Paul writes to his Thessalonian community: God calls us to his glorious Kingdom. In the meantime we lead our lives in anticipation of the coming (again) of our Lord Jesus. When he does come, in apocalyptic glory or not, we look up because our final redemption will have come.

    As you know, we dealt with each one of you like a father with his children, urging and encouraging you and pleading that you lead a life worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory (1 Thess 2:11-12). . . . And may he so strengthen your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints. (1 Thess 3:13)

    "There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in a cloud’ with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near." (Lk 21:25-28)

         In Search of the Christ-Event. There was a time when I used to see the death of Christ as the Christ-event, for it was at his crucifixion that he redeemed me. Good Friday was the Christian feast for me. Later, with a little more theological sophistication, I waved the banner of Jesus’ resurrection as an equally significant event. Salvation took place through his death and resurrection. I was taught to call this the ‘paschal mystery.’

    Neglected and Feared Event? At this stage, the ‘second coming’ of Jesus was hardly part of my religious consciousness. It was something to which I made passing reference when reciting the creed: ‘… he ascended to heaven, sits at the right hand of the Father, from thence, he shall come to judge the living and the dead.’ I hardly understood anything about that event, except that it was something to be feared. Was I ready to face my Judge and make an exact accounting of every thought, word and deed? This, by the way, is a favorite fundamentalist way of using the parousia. So went my Second Look at the parousia of Jesus.

    Parousia: An Event of Salvation. A closer look at the Bible reveals the privileged place that Jesus’ coming again occupied in the awareness of the early Christians. It was an event of salvation. All throughout the course of the 100 years or so of the New Testament era (30-120 C.E.) and even later, the parousia of Jesus was an important event in Christian consciousness. And why? Because that is the Victory-Day, the day of the coming of the Kingdom! When Jesus comes again, then will also dawn that new world where humankind will know no more mourning, nor pain, nor suffering, nor death—because all things will have been made new! Mary, the mother of the Proclaimer, will be there to celebrate. My childhood catechism missed out on all the vibrant joy of biblical hope.

    Your Redemption Is at Hand. There is an interesting little phrase in Luke which mirrors the consciousness of the early Christians. My catechetical upbringing, and perhaps the upbringing of the average Christian today, would associate the word ‘redemption’ with Jesus’ death or his resurrection, or with any other event, except the parousia. And yet, Luke says quite matter-of-factly: Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in a cloud’ with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near (Lk 21:27-28).

    The Eucharist and the Parousia. Today, the eucharist is largely a memorial of the sacrificial death of Jesus. Our average Christian consciousness would not readily associate the eucharist with the parousia of Jesus and the coming of the new world. By contrast, Paul’s Corinthian community, as often as they ate the bread and drank the cup, proclaimed the Lord’s death ‘until he comes’ (1 Cor 11:26). As the Corinthians lived out their days and celebrated the Lord’s death in the eucharist, their eyes were focused on the parousia and the Kingdom, as if to say: Come soon, and let the Kingdom and its blessings break into our lives today! Their prayer was, ‘Maranatha, come, Lord Jesus!’ Hurry up! (cf. 1 Cor 16:22b)

    Joyful Pledge for a New World. Fear, rather than anticipation and joy, used to be our feeling towards the parousia. After centuries of that, it is refreshing that at last in our modern liturgy we ‘wait in joyful hope for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.’ Do we know that we are proclaiming the possibility and the certainty of the new world of the future?

    Action Today. The apocalyptic imagery—‘coming in a cloud’ (Lk 21:27), ‘sound of God’s trumpet’ (1 Thess 4:16)—need not be taken literally. Nor do we know exactly the shape and form of this ‘coming.’ What is said is that God or his Christ will put a closure to our history. And what is important is that today, as we ‘wait in joyful hope for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,’ we cannot just passively wait and pray for his coming and the Kingdom. In his first coming, he gave a mandate to his followers: "As you go, proclaim the good news, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons" (Mt 10:1-8). With those words ringing in our ears, the parousia and the future Kingdom take on the guise of a finish line which summons us to action today.

    Be Still and Know …