1st Sunday of Advent - Rapture, Preparing for Christmas

 

Advent is a time to prepare for the celebration of the Birth of Jesus and to prepare for His 2nd Coming.

The Gospel today Jesus said, "Two men will be out in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken, and one will be left." 

Many Protestants believe the "taken" are the faithful who are raptured away, and the unfortunate sinners are "left behind". They also think the rapture will be secret and before the great persecution, so that only the elect will not the great persecution caused by the anti-Christ.

But is their really such a thing as a rapture, when one will be taken and another left behind? Will the rapture be in secret? Will it occur before the great tribulation or at the moment of the Second Coming of Jesus?

Catholics believe no one is exempt from the great persecution. No one is exempt from suffering from the anti-Christ. We believe Jesus does not come twice, but once. His coming will not be in secret, but rather for everyone to see. And His 2nd Coming will coincide with the General Judgment. Catholics believe when Our Divine Lord comes on the clouds of heaven, everyone will be caught up to meet Him in the air and we will all receive our recompense whether good or bad as to the good deeds we did or failed to do. We will all get a new resurrected body. All in heaven and in hell will get a new resurrected body. Those in hell their resurrected body will add to their torment, but those in heaven, it will add to their glory.

  St. Cyril of Jerusalem explains the meaning of "one will be taken and the other left." He said, “…Those who are taken"….confess their good deeds before the Father in heaven, and their "works follow them" while those who are "left" are those who are passed over because, despite their great titles or impressive speech, "had no charity" (did no charitable deeds) and thus have no reward from God.”  So we will be judged by our deeds of mercy. The truth is-- the Protestant rapture theory is a false doctrine. The idea never existed until the 1800’s when John Nelson Darby, a member of the Plymouth Brethren Congregation, began to heavily promote his idea of a secret rapture.

How are we to prepare for the coming of Jesus and the celebration of His birth at Christmas? Here are some examples.

Accept the cross-- First pray that God will take it away, and at the same time accept it, out of love for Jesus. We can offer up the pain and suffering of our cross for others. Whether it's illness, or a difficult job situation, or a problem that never seems to go away, ask the Lord to help you to endure it. We can give Jesus the gift of accepting our suffering.

Prayer. Daily make time to pray. You can come to pray during Eucharistic Adoration or before Jesus in the tabernacle. Come as a family or make shorts visits. We can offer our Holy Hour for specific people.

Decide to daily pray the Rosary, especially as a family. If you already pray one Rosary, pray 2 or 3 rosaries a day.

You can pray at home together as a family, by each person mentioning one particular intention or something you are thankful for, and then pray the Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be. We can give Jesus the gift of family prayer or spending time with Him in prayer.

Read a short paragraph from the Bible and meditate on it. Do some spiritual reading such as read the Catechism of the Catholic Church or read lives of the saints. We can give Jesus the gift of learning more about Our Lord and His Church.

Visit and Call. Go to visit someone in a nursing home, or someone who is home bound. Call a family member or friend whom you haven’t talked to in a long time.

Forgive. Perhaps there is someone you haven’t talked to for a long time because you are holding a grudge. Give Jesus the gift of forgiving someone who hurt you.

Attend Mass during the week. In addition to Sunday Mass, come to a weekday Mass and give Jesus the gift of allowing Him to come into your heart in Holy Communion.

Stop Wasting Time on the Computer. Instead of Facebook, call or speak to others in person.

Help a Neighbor. Rake leaves, remove snow or do a good deed for others. Give an anonymous donation or a food basket to a needy family.

Confession. There are most likely some who haven’t been to confession for a long time. How beautiful will your gift be to give Jesus, the gift of a truly repentant heart. Resolve to confess monthly, by giving Jesus the gift of overcoming your fear of confession and to regularly confess our venial sins.

Give Jesus the daily practice of a particular virtue or try to avoid a particular sin. We can practice patience, or try not to gossip, or to try to practice humility. One can have a negative attitude, put others down and complain about everything. Maybe try to have a grateful heart and positive attitude and give heartfelt compliments to others.

Young husbands and wives, you can give Jesus, the gift of being open to life, by giving up contraception and making the commitment to take Natural Family Planning Classes.

Parents once a week spend time with your children, playing board games or cards.

Children, be obedient to your parents, and do your homework without being told. We can give Jesus the gift of loving our family more and spending more time with our family.

Create a group to go Christmas Caroling to the homes of the elderly. By doing these things, you will give Jesus the gift of making Him the reason for the season.

Finally, you can make Advent like a little Lent, make sacrifices and do penance. Deny yourself chocolate, or candy or your favorite food. And each time you offer a sacrifice, or a mortification, place a piece of straw in the manger, so that when Christmas comes, Jesus will have a comfortable bed to lay His head.

What will you give the baby Jesus for Christmas? How will you spend your Advent? How will you prepare for Christmas and the 2nd coming of Jesus? Do as St. Cyril said which was to do deeds of charity and acts of mercy and you will be very well prepared. Let us ask the Virgin Mary to enter into mystery of Her preparation for the birth of Jesus and Our Lord’s second coming.