As I was reflecting on the readings for this Sunday, one thing in particular stood out to me — namely, that intriguing comparison Jesus makes between His coming and that of a thief in the night.
“Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour of night when the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and not let his house be broken into. So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.” (Matthew 24:43-44)
This initially confounded me as I immediately recalled another passage where our Lord says “A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).
Nevertheless, the coming of the Son of Man will be like that of a thief in the night. But how so? After some time meditating upon these passages, I remembered those words spoken two weeks ago from the prophet Malachi:
“Lo, the day is coming, blazing like an oven,
when all the proud and all evildoers will be stubble,
and the day that is coming will set them on fire,
leaving them neither root nor branch,
says the LORD of hosts.
But for you who fear my name, there will arise
the sun of justice with its healing rays.” (Malachi 3:19-20)
Is it not the case that the flame which turns stubble to ash is the same flame capable of purifying gold?
Thus I would submit to you that the “stealing” and “destroying” the Son of Man will do at His coming like a thief in the night will only be considered as loss from those who have not heeded the words of St. Paul from our second reading, choosing instead to make ample provision “for the desires of the flesh” — just as in those days of Noah where “they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day that Noah entered the ark.”
Whereas those who fear the Lord’s name will be as gold, eagerly awaiting that final restoration by the Day where “there will arise the sun of justice with its healing rays.”
When God therefore withdraws from us sinners those lesser goods pleasing to the senses, He does so that we may be stirred up to this most pure love of God who is the source of all their goodness. If then, we attach ourselves so ardently to these creaturely goods, we will consider their withdrawal as “stealing” and this lack as “destruction.”
I pray that you and I do not consider these like so during this penitential season of Advent! For what stealing is there when everything that we have has first been given to us by God? And why do we branches speak of “destruction” when all our life is drawn from that True Vine?
Rather, may we be like the people spoken of by the prophet Isaiah who “Shall come and say ‘Come, let us climb the LORD’s mountain, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may instruct us in his ways, and we may walk in his paths.’”
A tune sung by this week’s psalmist when he rejoices “We will go up to the house of the Lord!” — tunes which echo in the journeys of the wise men and shepherds as they have journeyed to our Lord, and tunes that should move us to journey with rejoicing towards this salvation which, as St. Paul says in our second reading, “is nearer now than when we first believed.”
Meet the Author
Zach Galles is an Assembly Associate and IT Specialist at The Catholic Woodworker. He is passionate about leading others closer to Christ through Our Lady’s rosary and especially enjoys praying a scriptural rosary.
Featured Team Favorite: Zach’s Pick
I am particularly fond of our rosaries with a St. Joseph centerpiece, like the Guardian Rosary. Mostly because I am moved by the simplicity and power of St. Joseph’s spirituality and fatherly intercession — quiet though not timid, hard working but not a workaholic, and everything he did was always moved by that burning charity he had for love of God and the Holy Family.
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