2nd Reading, 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

From: 1 Thessalonians 5:1-6

The Second Coming of the Lord (Continuation)

[1] But as to the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves know well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. [3] When people say, "There is peace and security," then sudden destruction will come upon them as travail comes upon a woman with child, and there will be no escape. [4] But you are not in darkness, brethren, for that day to surprise you like a thief. [5] For you are all sons of light and sons of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness. [6] So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.
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Commentary:

1-3. "The day of the Lord" is an expression used a number of times in Sacred Scripture to refer to that point at which God will intervene decisively and irreversibly. The prophets speak of the "day of Yahweh" sometimes fearfully (cf. Amos 5:18-20), sometimes hopefully (cf. Is 6:13). In his eschatological sermon (cf. Mt 24; Mk 13; Lk 21), Jesus foretold the destruction of Jerusalem in a style very reminiscent of that used by the prophets (cf. Amos 8:9ff) when speaking of the "day of Yahweh". The destruction of the city brings to an end the Jewish era in the history of salvation and prefigures the second coming of Christ as Judge of all. In St Paul's letters, as in other New Testament writings, the "day of the Lord" is the day of the general judgment when Christ will appear in the fullness of glory as Judge (cf. 1 Cor 1:8; 2 Cor 1:14). The Apostle brings in some examples used by our Lord in his preaching about the fall of Jerusalem and the end of the world (the "thief in the night": cf. Mt 24:43; the pains of childbirth: cf. Mt 24:19) to warn people that that day will come unexpectedly, and to exhort them to be always ready.

The Christian, therefore, should always be on the watch, for he never knows for sure when the last day of his life will be. The second coming of the Lord will take people by surprise; it will catch them doing good or doing evil. So, it would be rash to postpone repentance to some time in the future.

4-6. A thief works by night because he thinks that darkness will find the householder unprepared. Our Lord also used this metaphor when he said that if the father of the family had known when the thief would come, he would have kept a look-out (cf. Mt 24:43)--in other words, we need to be always alert, in the state of grace, surrounded by light. So, "if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin" (1 Jn 1:7).

On the same subject the Church teaches that our souls are "illumined by the light of faith" ("St Pius V Catechism", II, 2, 4).

We should therefore live a transparent life, with the divine light shining clearly through it; if we do, the "day of the Lord" (which can also be applied to the day each person dies) will not find us unprepared, even if it comes suddenly. "A true Christian is always ready to appear before God. Because, if he is fighting to live as a man of Christ, he is ready at every moment to fulfill his duty" (St. J. Escriva, "Furrow", 875).
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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.