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<p><img class="aligncenter wp-image-2794 size-full" src="https://toddkmarsha.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/4221484268_44cc3d06b3.jpg" alt="advent thoughts on second coming" width="500" height="500"></p>
<p>So I was driving to work this morning and a thought came to me while I was listening to <a class="expresscurate_contentTags" href="https://toddkmarsha.com/amp/witnesspath/tag/catholic-2/">#Catholic</a> radio. A priest was being interviewed and he was talking about the <a class="expresscurate_contentTags" href="https://toddkmarsha.com/amp/witnesspath/tag/second-coming/">#second coming</a>. The thought was one I&#8217;d had before&#8230;</p>
<p>I hope <a class="expresscurate_contentTags" href="https://toddkmarsha.com/amp/witnesspath/tag/jesus/">#jesus</a> doesn&#8217;t return while I&#8217;m alive because I haven&#8217;t accomplished what he&#8217;s called me to do yet.</p>
<p>What a selfish thought. I had to take the next logical step and ask, &#8220;What scares me about him coming when my work hasn&#8217;t been done yet?&#8221;</p>
<p>Well, if he shows up and my mission is incomplete, what will He do with me? Will he say, &#8220;It&#8217;s the journey, not the destination that matters. You&#8217;ve done enough, good and faithful servant.&#8221; Or will he say, &#8220;You knew what I wanted you to do but you procrastinated. You put worldly things ahead of Godly things. You sat motionless, paralyzed with fear, when I&#8217;d told you again and again to fear nothing because I was with you. I do not know you. You belong with the evil one.&#8221;</p>
<p>There I go again, being hard on myself.</p>
<p>This is a big deal, though. To not actively desire and pray for Jesus&#8217; return is to not understand the awesomeness of what it means. Jesus will return one day. It will be sudden and it will be amazing. He will raise the dead and reunite them with their bodies. He will judge the living ad the dead. All the righteous will receive a glorified body, freed from pain and suffering. The human race will attain its final destiny. Jesus will reign over mankind.</p>
<p>How&#8217;s that for a main event?</p>
<h3>Welcome the Second Coming</h3>
<p>Guess that means I&#8217;d better get off my duff and started writing. A lot. And giving and serving and loving&#8230;more. Now here&#8217;s the part where what little hair I have left gets blown back. This thought came to me, from none other than the <a class="expresscurate_contentTags" href="https://toddkmarsha.com/amp/witnesspath/tag/holy-spirit/">#holy spirit</a> itself, as we approach the start of <a class="expresscurate_contentTags" href="https://toddkmarsha.com/amp/witnesspath/tag/advent/">#advent</a>.</p>
<p>Advent is not just about the birth of Jesus but also the Second Coming. Felician Sister Judith M. Kubicki, a liturgical theologian at Fordham University, wrote the following in <em>The Living Light, ;</em>&#8220;Advent&#8230;distills into a few short weeks the church&#8217;s perennial longing for Christ&#8217;s coming in the flesh, in the end-time, and in every present moment of our lives.&#8221;  ;What better time to reflect on the Second Coming than this Advent, which begins on Sunday, November 30th this year. For more on the Catholic viewpoint of the Second Coming, I invite to read <a title="Ready or not, here I come...again: Catholics on the second coming" href="http://www.uscatholic.org/church/scripture-and-theology/2009/11/ready-or-not-here-i-comeagain-catholics-second-coming">this article</a> where I found the quote above.</p>
<p>If you&#8217;re like me and concerned faith and works won&#8217;t make the cut, pray for <a class="expresscurate_contentTags" href="https://toddkmarsha.com/amp/witnesspath/tag/transformation/">#transformation</a>. Pray for the <a title="The Spirit Was At Work The Whole Time" href="https://toddkmarsha.com/amp/witnesspath/2012/07/24/the-spirit-was-at-work-the-whole-time/">Holy Spirit</a> to move you to action and take away all fear. Since the last judgment is coming, whether we like it or not, a great way to pray for God&#8217;s mercy is through The <a class="expresscurate_contentTags" href="https://toddkmarsha.com/amp/witnesspath/tag/divine-mercy-chaplet/">#Divine Mercy Chaplet</a>. I heard a great suggestion on how to pray the chaplet later in the day on the same Catholic radio station. We can pray for mercy for a particular person by making a small modification.</p>
<p>Let&#8217;s say you wanted to pray for me. You would pray, &#8220;Eternal Father, I offer you the body and blood, soul and divinity of your dearly beloved son, our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for Todd&#8217;s sins and the sins of the whole world.&#8221; Then you&#8217;d follow that with, &#8220;For the sake of his sorrowful passion, have mercy on Todd and on the whole world,&#8221; ten times. If you get to it today, a decade of the Divine Mercy Chaplet would do me a lot of good.</p>
<p>God works in such astounding ways. He places thoughts in our heads, speaks to us, and puts people in our path, all for His greater purpose. I&#8217;m thankful for the thought that led to this post and that I have all of you to share it with.</p>
<p>God bless!</p>
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