Repent!
For the end of the world
is nigh!
Heard that before?
The end of the world is nigh.
It's always nigh.
Worrying about the world
is something that
has plagued mankind
for centuries.
St Peter sees the end of the world
as being imminent in his time.
Even before him,
many have worried
about whether all things
will end in some catastrophe
in their time.
What is different from their time
and ours
is that we have a pretty good idea
of how the world might end
and what will cause it.
Unlike St Peter,
we can see the world
and what's happening.
We have good reasons
to fear and worry
especially about our children
and our children's children.
There is a key difference
in how we see the end of the world
and how St Peter sees
the end of the world.
[PAUSE]
It seems that we look at
the end of the world
with fear and trembling.
We dread the horrors of the future
the pain and suffering
and the destruction
of all that is familiar.
St Peter has that future.
Rejection. Persecution. Crucifixion.
His Jewish heritage destroys itself
by hating him
and throwing him out of the synagogue.
His stability of life in the fishing village
is taken away from him.
His life ends on a cross
upside down
in agony.
St Peter goes through
the end of the world
but he welcomes it.
We fear the end.
St Peter looks forward to it.
So do all the other saints.
They long for the end -
not because they want destruction -
but because they know
that what comes next
will exceed
any joy they can imagine.
[PAUSE]
As we stand
and watch Our Lord
ascend,
body and soul,
into Heaven,
we are told that
He will come again
in the same manner.
We have nothing to fear.
But we do fear.
[PAUSE]
We fear because
we are still attached to earthly things
and earthly things will be destroyed
even our bodies.
God tells us not to cling to
earthly things
but we do.
What do we do, then?
The key is holiness.
[PAUSE]
Holiness is about separation.
Whatever is separated
out for God is called holy.
God is holy because
He is separate from His Creation
and anything that is
separated for Him
shares His holiness.
And we are to share His holiness.
We have to be separated out,
set ourselves aside,
for God.
This is how St Peter
faces the end of his world,
trusting not in anything he has,
but that God has called Him out
into a better, more glorious world.
St Peter is holy,
which is why he is called Saint.
Our lives, too,
must be set aside
from the purposes of the world
for the purposes of God.
We are always close
to the end of the world -
it could happen any minute -
but that's not a reason to be afraid,
or to give up
living for God.
Lives of prayer,
of devotion,
of seeking God in Creation,
of living the best lives we can
according to what is truly good,
of bearing our cross
as Christ bears His,
this is the path to holiness.
[PAUSE]
We are meant to be holy,
for God is holy.
Not even the end of the world
can stop us
if we turn to Christ in love.
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