“And you shall hear or wars and rumours of wars. See that ye be not troubled. For these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be pestilences, and famines, and earthquakes in places: now all these are the beginnings of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall put you to death: and you shall be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then shall many be scandalized: and shall betray one another: and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall seduce many. And because iniquity hath abounded, the charity of many shall grow cold. But he that shall persevere to the end, he shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom, shall be preached in the whole world, for a testimony to all nations, and then shall the consummation come.”
Wars and rumors of wars is to hear the conflict on one’s doorstep as well as wars afar off, but Jesus consoles you and His Apostles by saying not to be troubled, gracefully placing yourself in the hands of your Bridegroom, that He may be your care and concern: “I adjure you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and the hearts of the field, that you stir not up, nor make the beloved to awake, till she please” (Canticle 2:7). The Apostles thought that the end of the world would shortly follow the destruction of Jerusalem, but Jesus says this is not the case, but rather that the destruction of Jerusalem and Judea was a collapsing of the old covenant, that a kingdom of love may take its stead, “The Spirit of the Lord hath filled the whole world” (Wisdom 1:7), that worship of God may not be confined to a temple and one people, but that His love may burst out into the minds and hearts of all men: “God is a spirit; and they that adore him, must adore him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). When He then discusses nations rising against each other, this can be taken in a literal sense, but it can also be in the lack of peace in the minds of men, whereas a mind in love is radiantly at peace: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you” (John 14:27). However, in the literal sense, war, pestilence, famine, and natural disasters are akin to the weakness of the body as one ages and begins to die, for as the world begins to shrivel before the coming of the new earth: “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth was gone, and the sea is now no more” (Apocalypse 21:1), men who look to themselves and not to love of neighbor will do violence to each other, taking and harming that they may enjoy the comforts they once had, with the poor stealing to live: “The fault is not so great when a man hath stolen: for he stealeth to fill his hungry soul” (Proverbs 6:32). Now, when evil rears its head higher, God unveils Himself more to His saints: “The mystery which hath been hidden from ages and generations, but now is manifested to his saints, to whom God would make known the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ, in you the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:26-27). Thus, when man and devil rise up unchecked, the prayers of the saints becoming fewer and less ardent: “Elias was a man like unto us: and with prayer he prayed that it might not rain upon the earth, and it rained not for three years and six months” (James 5:17), the intimacy of God will be revealed in greater measure to the few that give up everything to take God unto them as their Father, Spouse, Everything: “Behold, we have left all things, and have followed thee” (Luke 18:28), for the prayer of the one that holds Jesus truly, not only in word but in deep affection, as their Beloved, attains all that they desire: “Hiterto you have not asked any thing in my name. Ask, and you shall receive; that your joy may be full” (John 16:24). Now, human brokenness is part of this exile, and rather than the disciples thinking they would rejoice in prosperity as the world suffers, which would make for mercenaries rather than lovers: “The hireling, and he that is not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and flieth” (John 10:12), Jesus shows that the world would turn against the Gospel, using violence against that which would take away their gross doings: “Thou hast loved malice more than goodness: and iniquity rather than to speak righteousness” (Psalm 51:5). In addition to those who proclaim Christ but falsely, and those who were outright enemies of Christ, there would also arise those, within the Church, whose hearts were frozen, hating each other and turning against each other: “In perils from false brethren” (2 Corinthians 11:26), and those that see this will turn to contrary teaching, abandoning truth for warmth, which will give strength to false teachers whose message appeals to the heart, while being devoid of substance: “Let no man deceive you with vain words” (Ephesians 5:6). This is not to pick either love or truth, Theophila, but to never let the two be separated, loving in the truth and professing the truth with love: “Thy lips, my spouse, are as a dropping honeycomb” (Canticle 4:11). All of this desolation can stifle the heart, with one being afraid to love due to the rampant evils of others: “Many have refused to lend, not out of wickedness, but they were afraid to be defrauded without cause” (Ecclesiasticus 29:10), or, so focused on protecting themselves from the evils of the world, will not turn and enter into the garden of the love of God. However, this is said of “many,” not of all, and God desires to rain His love upon you: “Thou shalt set aside for thy inheritance a free rain, O God” (Psalm 67:10), and to abandon yourself to His love, trusting that He will fashion you into a beautiful vessel that can drink deeply of His merciful love, this is to continue to the end: “Being confident of this very thing, that he, who hath begun a good work in you, will perfect it unto the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6). You do this by bringing the Gospel to all you see, treating everyone with an incredible love: “Dearly beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God” (1 John 4:7), letting the name and truth of your Beloved be the breath upon your lips: “The odour of thy mouth like apples” (Canticle 7:8), and praying often for the Church and the world: “When Moses lifted up his hands, Israel overcame: but if he let them down a little, Amalec overcame” (Exodus 17:11); “He overcame the disturbance, not by strength of body nor with force of arms, but with a word he subdued him that punished them, alleging the oaths and covenant made with the fathers” (Wisdom 18:22). Do not take a section of Christ’s life and apply it to yourself, Theophila, but let Him always be present through you: “He that saith he abideth in him, ought himself also to walk, even as he walked” (1 John 2:6). Though Jerusalem would fall, Jesus promises that the labor of the Apostles would not be wasted, that many would come to His merciful love through them: “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast and unmoveable; always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labour is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58), for the winds of love carry seeds far and beautifully: “For the hope that is laid up for you in heaven, which you have heard in the word of the truth of the gospel, which is come unto you, as also it is in the whole world, and bringeth forth fruit and growth, even as it doth in you, since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth” (Colossians 1:5-6). To see someone madly in love with God, that drinks from the fountain freely and joyfully: “All you that thirst, come to the waters” (Isaias 55:1), and not be stirred at least into curiosity is a testimony against the hard-hearted, the radiant light from the love of the one infatuated with God falling on them like sunlight on clay rather than on a flower: “I shall harden his heart, and shall multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt” (Exodus 7:3). Now, a mutual love of God stirs up the hearts of those that love Him, and with the iniquities of the world pulling down the hearts of the faithful, many will grow cold, being stranded like coals in a tundra: “And if two lie together, they shall warm one another: how shall one alone be warmed?” (Ecclesiastes 4:11). True friendship, Theophila, is built around the love of God, with the best of friends being those that inflame each other’s hearts and help each other grow in their love: “A faithful friend is the medicine of life and immorality: and they that fear the Lord, shall find him” (Ecclesiasticus 6:16), which is a gem difficult to find. Now, to welcome the second coming of Jesus in a spiritual sense, Theophila, is to live until the Holy Spirit is the primary actor in your life, while you are led by Him as a maiden in a dance, totally trusting and drunk with love, as grace exudes from you without your effort: “Now the grace of our Lord hath abounded exceedingly with faith and love, which is in Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 1:14). Those that do not love Him will not understand and will therefore think you bizarre, turning away from you, or will get caught on a snare of falsehood that will keep them held low, but you, Theophila, who desire to run unrestrained to your Beloved, He has promised: “A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand: but it shall not come nigh thee” (Psalm 90:7). Whatever would cool your burning heart is false prophecy: “Extinguish not the spirit” (1 Thessalonians 5:19), but to preach the love you’ve found to even your thoughts is to go throughout the whole earth, carrying the treasure of the field to be distributed everywhere: “And they did all eat, and were filled” (Matthew 14:20). Therefore, preach to your heart, whisper the love of God to every fabric of your being: “My soul melted when he spoke” (Canticle 5:6), that you may be burning with love in all that you do.