Exiit qui seminat

As we chronicle Church History, the Bible, historically is separated into several time periods. Each time period focuses on both moments in time and specific spiritual themes. The final age, the one that we are living in right now, is the Age of the Church. The Age of the Church started with the death of the last Apostle, the last recipient of the deposit of faith from Jesus Himself, and will continue until the Second Coming, when our Lord returns in glory. The reality is that there is a big difference between living in the final age of the plan of salvation versus living in the "end times" or the last days. Only the Lord truly knows when He will come again at the end of the world. As people of faith, we no neither the time nor the hour when it will happen, nor should we begin to speculate that the Second Coming is right around the corner. And while the world PROBABLY won't end tomorrow, what the readings from Sacred Scripture remind us is that we need to approach every day like it could be our last (for one day, it will be). The 40 days given to Nineveh, as wicked as that city was, was a time of preparation and conversion.  They did not squander that opportunity and were spared. St. Paul speaks of the fact that the world in its present form is passing away. The spiritual life is never static and we are called to keep moving toward God instead of moving away from Him! In this final age, John the Baptist proclaims that the kingdom of God is at hand. While we often procrastinate when it comes to following Jesus, our obligation and vocation is to be ready NOW. When Jesus calls, we too must abandon our nets and follow Him. So in this Age of the Church, let us pray that we may live today like it was our first day, our last day, our only day!