To know the end is near, to watch for the end, St. Augustine taught that the fruit of such knowledge and vigilance is patience. Instead of anxiety, instead of chaos and overactivity, rather calm should rest the soul of the believer.
The readings this Sunday are indeed about the end. “Lo, the day is coming, blazing like an oven,” the passage from Malachi begins (Mal 3:19). Like Jeremiah before him, Jesus talks about the destruction of the temple; after this, he’ll talk about the destruction of Jerusalem. Yet what he fully means by “the end” is bigger than that (Lk 21:5-24). Jesus here is talking apocalyptically.
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