The Catholic liturgical year runs from the First Sunday of Advent to the Feast of Christ the King, which we will celebrate next Sunday. As we get close to the end of the liturgical year, the readings at Mass focus on the end of the world. Predicting when the world will end is something of a pastime in some parts of American culture. However, the Catholic Church has never tried to predict the time of the end of the world, since Christ has clearly told us that it is not for human beings to know when the world will end.
Instead, we are to live with the expectation that the world might end at any time, while still being focused on our day-to-day responsibilities. A good way to approach the question is with the Benedictine Latin motto "ora et labora," which means to pray and to work. We should pray as if we were about to die in any moment, as if Christ were to return right now. At the same time, we should work as if we were to live in this world indefinitely.
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Photo Credit: The Last Judgement by Fra Angelico from Wikimedia Commons.
