It is 22nd November 2016. We celebrate the memorial of St Cecilia, Virgin and Martyr. She is the Patron saint of music, especially church music, as well as that of musicians, composers, instrument makers and poets. The name Cecilia means blind. We are not sure whether she herself could not see. The Church also calls her the patron saint of the blind. She sang the hymns in her heart with the tremendous love for the Lord. She reminds us all that a good and heartfelt singing is indeed heart of the liturgy. The readings are from Rev. 14:14-19; and the Gospel from Luke 21:5-11. The first reading speaks about the Great harvest on earth at the end of time. Jesus is the harvester of the faithful and He will separate the dark grapes ripe to the full and are rejected by God are the unfaithful, the disobedient, the proud to the winepress of God’s anger. God will trod the fully ripe grapes bursting forth with juice fallen under the foot of God. The battle that God is going to wage is unimaginable and incomprehensible for a human mind. It is the battle against the evil and the Satan. There will be a river of blood out of this battle ground running for 200 miles radius near Jerusalem during the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. There is going to be a full judgement of God during the second arrival of Jesus. It would seem that the Satan and the powerful army of Antichrist would win at the beginning. But as we have read in the first reading, God, God’s Messiah, and God’s People will triumphant powerfully and take the entire control over Satan, and their messiah, the Antichrist and its followers. The responsorial Psalm prays, “The Lord comes to rule the earth.” (Ps. 95:13). In the Gospel, Jesus cautions us about the eschatology, which means the last things. Eschatology is the knowledge of the last things of human beings, death, judgement, heaven or hell and the end of the world. The Apostles and the listeners did not understand the destruction of the temple as Jesus preached. People could not believe Jesus just because the temple was so gigantic and cannot be destroyed. It is same with the end of the world and the understanding of its end. All three Gospels speaks of the destruction of Jerusalem closely associated with the end of the world. Are we prepared to face Jesus? Is our spiritual life in order for the final analysis of Christ? May you have a good day. May God bless you.

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