1.- The day of the judgement is the day of the Lord. Is it a feared or a expected day? Do we leave it farther away or is it expected like a near event? In the newborn Church, a persecuted Church, it is an expected day, not only in the future but also in the present. Nevertheless, in a medieval Church, a powerful Church, it is a feared day, the day of the anger, and everything is left for the last day: in the moment of the death (personal judgement) and at the end of history (universal judgement). At the end, it is a test that indicates where we are.
2.- In the Bible, it is a fundamental experience: God acts upon history, God judges. In the Exodus, God judges Egypt and he liberates the oppressed. The oppressed celebrate it. It is God´s and his people victory. History presents concrete examples of the day of the Lord and his judgement, to which all peoples are submitted
3.- The believer is not afraid of that day. On the contrary, for him it is the day of glory: Sing to the Lord,… He comes to judge the earth (Ps 96). In the psalms appeals to God like appeal of the oppressed: Judge of the world, repay the proud with what they deserve (Ps 94). The whole universe cheers before the Lord for he comes to rule the earth (Ps 98). The wicked say that there is no God (Ps 94), He does not take care of the human business, he makes neither good nor bad (Zep 1,12), he does not see it, he does not notice it (Ps 94). Nevertheless, the Lord knows everyone in his or her hearts (Jer 11,20).
4.- Elijah appears in the great Carmel assembly, in a limit situation for the believer people (1 K 18,17-40). Not everything is valid. The pagan cult is not compatible with the living God. Before 459 false prophets, he raises the question of who really is the true God: The Lord sent s lightening (18,38) that served like a signal. The prophets announce it: As in the pass the Lord came to defend his people. (Jud 4,5, folls), on the same manner he will come in the future: with torment, hurricane and hail (Is 30,30), with thunders, lightening and earthquakes (29,5; see Jos 10,11; 1 Sim 7,10; 14.15; Ps 144). The universe is at God´s service who fights for his people.
5.- The announcement of the judgement is an essential part in the prophets´ mission. The judgement will reach all peoples (Am 1,3-2,3), to Israel too, that is corrupted (2,4-16). Only a rest will escape judgement in Israel: I will leave within you a poor and meek people who seek refuge in God (Zep 3,12). The Lord for whom you are you long will enter the sanctuary and he will purify the sons of Levi (Mal 3,1-3).
6.- When he listens God´s call, Isaiah sees him sat in his throne. The vision purifies him. Isaiah receives a word of judgement, addressed to a stubborn and obstinate people. It is like a tree from which only a stub will remain (Is 6,13). Then, king Ajaz (735-716), in spite of the Lord´s warning, opens the gates to the Assyrian empire and Judah becomes subdued. The warning is this: If you do not stand firm in faith, you too will not stand at all (7,9). The same happens later on, when Hezekiah comes to the Pharaoh to request the help of the Egyptian empire. Those ruling do not leave any room for God´s action; they had no regard for him who had planned it long ago (22,11), they do not build on the cornerstone, they do not have the righteousness as plumb line and the justice as measure (28,16-17)
7.- Prophet Jeremy announces the nations´ judgement: His mighty roar echoes to the farthest ends of the earth. For Yahweh judges all the nations and passes sentence against all humankind (Jer 30-31). The prophet announces Judah´s judgement too (Jer 36). He writes it down through his assistant Baruc. The judgement comes from the word of the Lord. There is a triple reading of the writing: the first one, before the people in occasion of a breakfast; the second one, in the office of the State secretary; the third one, in front of the king. The king is in the winter palace, sat near the brassier: he slowly tears the writing and throws it to the fire. Jeremy again dictates his message and the second writing is longer than the first one. Jeremy proclaims also God´s judgement against his temple that has become a bandit’s cave (7,11). The Lord has placed a prophet among his people as examiner, so that his behaviour in known and judged. (6,27).
8.- In the experience of his vocation, Ezekiel also sees the Lord sat on his throne. The living God has no fix home in the temple of Jerusalem, but he walks over all the earth. And he is present among the exiled, in a small community, near Babylon, beside the river Kebar. It is the year 592 b. C. The prophet has the mission of talking in the name of God. A book is delivered to him. God sends him to a rebel people, who do not want to listen the Lord´s word: The Israelites will not listen to you because they are not willing to listen to me (Ez 3,7).
9.- Universal judgement will reach the whole world and God´s and his people enemies. The harvest and the vintage, judgement symbols, will then come (Jl 4,12-13). The judgement is delivered to the son of man (Dn 7,9-12). The judgement flows farther in history. The saints of the Most High are tested and persecuted by bestial powers, but they participate in the son of man´s kingdom and they judge history 87,25-27). Judgement function is already present. It is said in the Revelation: Put in your sickle and reap, for harvest time has come (Rev 14,15).
10.- John the Baptist call is urgent. God´s kingdom is not a question of familiar heritage, it requires conversion fruits: The axe is already laid to the roots of the trees; ant tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown in the fire. I baptize you in water for conversion, but the one who is coming after me is to do much more… He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire. He has the winnowing fan in his hand to thresh out all the grain. He will gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn is everlasting fire (Mt 3,10-12).
11.- In the Gospel takes place the sowing but also the harvesting; now, I say to you, look up and see the fields white and ready for harvesting. People who reap the fields are paid for their work, and the fruit is gathered for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together (Jn 4, 35-36). The judgement, the day of judgement is fundamental; to it refers the cities that reject the Gospel: But I assure you, for Tyre and Sidon it will be more bearable than for you (Mt 11,21-22; Lk 10,13-14). Nineveh´s people who listened Jonah´s preaching and the queen of the south who admired Salomon´s wisdom, will stand up in the judgement against this generation (Mt 12, 41-42), who rejects Jesus, a perverse and adulterous generation (12,59). The Servant of the Lord will announce judgement to the nations (Mt 12,18) The Father has entrusted all judgement to the Son (Jn 5,22)
12.- A great judicial session farther away from history is the traditional (apocalyptical) image of the final judgement, with the son of man as judge (Mt 25): he will send the angels to gather the chosen people from the four winds (Mk 13,27). Then nations will be judged according to the shelter given to those sent to proclaim the Gospel: I was hungry and gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me water, I was nude and you dressed me, I was ill and you visited me, in prison and you came to see me... all you made with one of my smaller brothers, you made it with me. Jesus identifies himself with his disciples who share his mission: He who welcomes you welcomes me, and he who welcomes me welcomes him who sent me… And I promise you if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of this little ones, because he is a disciple of mine, he will not go unrewarded (Mt 10, 40-42).
13.- Judgement’s day, the son of man´s day, can be a day of wrath, anguish and distress, a day of destruction and devastation, of gloom and darkness (Zep 1,15). To find shelter, it is necessary to search the Lord, to look for the justice and the humility (Zep 2,3). That day can be like the flood that all of a sudden came over a people busy in the daily work (Mt 24,37-39). It is necessary to have a boat, like Noah (Gn 6,14). Many boats are needed. That day can be like the fire and sulphur that fall down on the days of Lot (Lk 17,26-27). It is necessary to listen the warning God´s word and to escape without looking back. (Gn 19,15). The day of the judgement is something that takes place in men´s daily life: Of two men in the field, one will be taken and the other left; of two women grinding wheat together at the mill, one will be taken and the other left. (Mt 24,37-40).
14.- Where will judgement take place? In the Jehoshaphat valley? (Jl 4,2). Jehoshaphat, which means Yahweh judges is the symbolic name of the place where the Lord judges the nations. But the judgement is not limited to a place. It looks like Jesus uses an already made sentence: Wherever the body is, the vultures will gather (Mt 24,28). The day of the judgement, the day of the son of man, is not an additional event, that takes place here or there. It is in another place, in other dimension, although it irrupts in the history. It arrives as the kingdom of God that is not something you can observe, and say of it: Look here it is! See, the kingdom of God is among you. (Lk 17,20-21). The son of man arrives as the lightning that crosses the whole sky’s vault and is perceived from anywhere: For the Son of Man will appear like lightning that flashes from one end of the sky to the other (Lk 17,24). Jesus´ disciples pray: May your kingdom come (Lk 11,2). And also: Come, Lord Jesus (Rev 22,20).
15.- In line with the prophets, Jesus judges the temple. It has become in a bandit’s cave (Mk 11, 17), it is condemned: Not one stone will be left upon another here (Mt 24,2). The disciples ask him when that will happen and which will be his coming and end of the world signal. In a different level, everything is related: the destruction of the temple (on the cutting edge of the current history), Jesus return (after being rejected by this generation), the end of this world that passes by (present time dimension). It is necessary to be alert and to be able to discern. Observing the fig tree, you know that summer is near, so happens with you: When you see all that I have told you, Know that the time is near, even at the door (Mt 24,33). Christ comes back, but in a different manner: as resurrected, as the Lord: A little and the world will see me no more, but you will see me (Jn 14,18).
16.- Several parables invite us to be vigilant, to watch and to pray so we are not surprised, and in this manner we are not like a lace (Lk 21,34-36). If we have the impression that the Lord delays his arrival, the parable of the faithful servant invites us to accomplish our mission (Mt 24, 45-51). Because we do not know when it is the moment, the parable of the vigilant servants warns us (Mk 13,33-37). Because we don´t know the day, the parable of the thief in the night invites us to watch (Lk 12,39-40). Because we don´t know neither the day nor the time, the parable of the ten bridesmaids invites us to be prepared to join the wedding agape (Mt 25,10-12). The world lives back to the signals of the end (24,6-14). But it is necessary to announce it. They are the first pains of childbirth. (24,8). The ancient world passes, a new world is being born.
17.- The kingdom of God, which Jesus has received, is already present in the world. Nevertheless, the believer still hopes the plenitude of that kingdom in the future (LG 48). Some tension is standing: already and, nevertheless, not yet. Already, because Christ as Lord. Not yet, because Christ will come. What separate us of that day is, really, not too much: A little, a little longer and he who is coming will come; he will not delay (Heb 10,37), the judge is already at the door (James 5,9). The Lord comes like a thief in the night: But you are not in darkness; so that day will not surprise you like a thief (1 Thes 5,1-5).
18.- It is now already fundamental the attitude adopted before Christ: Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, because he has not believed in the Name of the only Son of God. This is how the Judgement is made: Light has come into the world and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil (Jn 3,18-19). The believer is not obliged to fear the day of the Lord, who is to judge the living and the death (2 Tim 4,1); when do we know that we have reached a perfect love? When we expect with confidence the Day of Judgement (1Jn 4,17). Besides, the believers share the judgement function: You too, will sit on twelve thrones to rule the twelve tribes of Israel (Mt 19,28), are to judge the world (1 Co 5,12).
19.- The Revelation is God´s judgement revelation. It announces fact that will be revealed later on, but also what God has already made, his judgements in the present time. The Revelation is prophecy against a multitude of peoples, nations, languages and kings (Rev 10,11). Lord´s disciples are the rest of Israel and the nations´ prophets. The Revelation is testimony. The disciples have the mission to announce Lord´s judgements to the nations, in the courts, in the public squares and in the circus arena. The day of the Lord is alive in the meeting of the community. (1,10)
20.- The Catholic Church Catechism recalls the old tradition (not biblical) of the particular judgement, in the moment of death, and of the final or universal judgement, at the end of history: “Every man, after the death, receives his eternal retribution in his immortal soul in a particular judgement” (num. 1022) “The resurrection of all deads, just and sinners, will precede the final Judgement. This will be `the time in which all of those who are in their tombs´ … (Jn 5,28)” (num. 1038). But, attention, the following is suppressed: Truly, the hour is coming… and has indeed come. This says the Lord the Saint John´s evangel: Truly, the hour is coming (and has indeed come) when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and, on hearing it, will live. (Jn 5,25). And also: The hour is coming when all those lying in tombs will hear my voice (5,28).
21.- March 11th: Terrorist massacre in Madrid. 190 deads and 1.500 wounded. The largest terrorist attempt in the Spanish history. Al Qaeda claims the criminal attempt. March 14: Electoral upset without precedents. We recall the popular manifestation against Iraq war that took place the 15th F 2005: 90% of the population came out to the street. We also recall the catechesis named: The novelty of the kings. At its end it was said: “Third Lent Sunday. The war against Iraq has commenced. All churches read the first lecture from the Decalogue, signalling the limits out of which there is no communion neither with God nor among men: Do not take the name of Yahweh your God in vain, do not kill, do not steal, do not covet your neighbour´s house (Ex 20,1-17). The Lord is not an absent God, the Most High God, who does not take care of the human business. He judges history and recalls his mandates. Those who lead the nations should put attention, much attention”
22.- A year later, after the 11-M attempts, we proclaim the same: Do not take the name of Yahweh your God in vain, do not kill… Human life is sacred. 14-M evangel claims attention: that of the violent Galilee whose blood Pilate mixed whit that of the sacrifices offered (Lk 13,1-9). Violence after violence. Jesus condemns the violence of the Galilee, that of Pilate too. We live in a violent world, needed of conversion, Jesus says: If you do not convert… bad business. Other world is possible. Even more, other world is necessary. Where is God?, some ask. God´s word condemns the terrorist attempts, as a year ago it condemned Iraq’s war: Do not kill. Besides, God is the solidarity movement displayed with the victims.
23.- The impressive Isaiah’s passage is an attention call; it was listened is a small group the 11-M, the day of the great slaughter (Is 30,25) Pharaoh’s (the emperor of that time) protection will be your shame, and Egypt’s shadow your confusion (30,3). Id est, Bush´s force we be your shame and US protection your confusion. It also says: When your officials reach Zoan and your ambassadors come to Hanes, they will all be put to shame by a people who can do nothing for them, who can give neither help nor benefit but only disgrace and reproach (30.4-5) Id est, a year ago, when their leaders were at the Azores, they slavishly submitted to a people that does not give help or utility, but shame and discredit. It is equally meaningful the passage that – a little before- talks against those who rule this people that said: We have made a covenant with death, we have made a pact with the netherworld. When the flood passes by it cannot harm us, for we have made lies our refuge and falsehood our hiding place (28,14-16). Impressive judgement word: No go, write it down a a record for them, inscribe it on a scroll, so it will be an everlasting accusation against them (30,8). In my table notebook, the 11-M, we can read the following thinking of Octavio Paz “The throne proclaims the deeds of the lightening”-. Certainly, the Lord comes like the lightening.
* For personal and group reflection: The day of the judgement, the day of the Lord:
- It is a feared day, an expected day, for the farthest date, also for the present day
- A rest escapes judgement, that who believes in Him is not judged
- Nations´ judgement is present; temple judgement too
- We participate in the judgement function
- We live in a violent world needing conversion
- We condemn the terrorists attempts, also the war against Iraq
- Other world is possible, other world is necessary
- The Lord comes like the lightening