AUGUSTINE ON THE SECOND COMING

 

AUGUSTINE ON THE SECOND COMING

            Saint Augustine was the bishop of Hippo (now Annaba, Algeria) from 396-430.  He was a prolific writer and is honored as a Doctor of the Church.  His writings have had more impact on Catholic theology than any other Father of the Church.  Fortunately, hundreds of his sermons and discourses were written down by his listeners and are accessible to us today.  One of his discourses on the Psalms is the subject of this article because it provides a beautiful reflection on the second coming of Christ, a theme which the Church highlights as we come to the close of the liturgical year.

            Jesus spoke about his second coming towards the end of his public ministry as he approached the time of his Passion.  Last week we heard him say in the Gospel of Mark that in the days following much tribulation “they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory, and then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the end of the earth to the end of the sky.”  After his arrest he testifies before the Sanhedrin that “you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power and coming with the clouds of heaven.”   Clearly, this was an important subject for Jesus, and it remains an important subject for the whole Church.  As a good pastor Saint Augustine spoke about it to his people, to give them guidance on how it ought to affect their lives.

            “Previously he came through his preachers, and he filled the whole world.  Let us not resist his first coming, so that we may not dread the second.  What then should the Christian do?  He ought to use the world, not become its slave.  And what does this mean?  It means having, as though not having.”  Augustine reminds his listeners of the Pauline teaching on detachment.  Whatever occupies us should not capture all of our attention or be the center of our hopes and desires, for “the form of this world is passing away” (1 Corinthians 7:13).  Our priority must be not be on how we gain pleasure from things or people, but rather, we ought to put our whole being into doing what is just.  “Or do you, because you are unjust, expect the judge not to be just?  Or because you are a liar, will the truthful one not be true?  Rather, if you wish to receive mercy, be merciful before he comes; forgive whatever has been done against you; give of your abundance.”   

Saint Augustine insists that the followers of Jesus will be free of anxiety if they follow this rule.  “He who is without anxiety waits without fear until his Lord comes.  For what sort of love of Christ is it to fear his coming?  Are we really certain that we love him?  Or do we love our sins more?  Therefore let us hate our sins and love him who will exact punishment for them.  He will come whether we wish it or not.   Do not think that just because he is not coming just now, he will not come at all.  He will come, you know not when; and provided he finds you prepared, your ignorance of the time of his coming will not be held against you.”  This reminds me of a passage in the Second Letter of Peter: “But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like one day” (3:8). 

The great Doctor of the Church insists that if we give ourselves to the Lord we will have nothing to fear from his judgment.  Rather, we can anticipate it with joy.  All that we have is from the Lord, anyway, as the apostle says in 1 Corinthians 4:7: “For what have you that you did not receive?” Augustine exhorts his people to offer proper sacrifice to the Lord in preparation for his second coming.  What then are we to offer?  That which makes us just in God’s sight.  Only this will bring us peace and happiness in the present and when Jesus comes in glory.  “These are the sacrifices most pleasing to God: mercy, humility, praise, peace, charity.  Such as these, then, let us bring and, free from fear, we shall await the coming of the judge who will judge the world in equity and the peoples in his truth” (Psalm 98:9).