Monday, November 30, 2009

The Second Advent as a Catholic

When I was a Seventh-day Adventist, I was under the impression that no other denominations were preaching the Second Coming of Jesus Christ (you know, we were the ones who focused on the Sabbath and the great Apocalypse of prophecy). When I left that church I found that the Baptists and Assembly of God as well as many fundamentalist and charismatic churches were very active in looking for signs of the last days and dissecting Revelation's prophecies.

Now that I am a Catholic, I realize that the Bible gives us a command about proclaiming the good news of God's second coming. It isn't having Revelation Seminars. It isn't passing prophecy pamphlets out or writing fictional accounts of what might happen. Let's read what Paul said that Jesus personally told him about how to proclaim God's Second Advent:

I Corinthians 11: 23-26: For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me." In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me." For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

When we as His Body come together, unified in spirit and in truth, partake of His body and blood, we ARE proclaiming both our Blessed Lord's Sacrifice and Redemption as well as the hope that Jesus is coming again! It is the sign that He is returning. Our love for one another in the unity of the cup and bread is our way of showing the world God's infinite love in the past and that in the future we will once again be with our Lord both in body and spirit.

The Catholic church does indeed preach about the Second Coming of Jesus in doctrines and in occasional sermons, but we also proclaim it every time we partake of the Eucharist each week or every day. It is the way we mark time until His coming again.

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