wing, a torch, a promise.  I choose to risk my significance; to live so that which comes to as seed goes to the next as blossom and that which to me as blossom, goes on as fruit.\" 

The Church continually calls us to the new evangelization.  We are not to live in caves or on islands, waiting for the end of the world.  Even so, we must always be aware of the clash between the culture of life and the culture of death. 

As we consider the Second Coming of Jesus, I would like to suggest the same program of life that I have been preaching about throughout my almost twenty-five years of Catholic priesthood.

Pray: every Catholic needs a daily, mature and well-disciplined spiritual life.

Action: be a living member of the Catholic Church.

Focus: focus your apostolic activity.  Focus on your family, focus on your parish and focus on your local community. 

Is it better to curse the darkness or to light one candle? 

Pope Benedict XVI said: "Today many have a limited understanding of the Christian faith, because they identify it with a mere system of beliefs and values and not so much with the truth of God revealed in history, eager to communicate with man face to face, in a relationship of love with him.

In fact, the foundation of every doctrine or value is the event of the encounter between man and God in Christ Jesus. Christianity, before being a moral or ethical value, is the experience of love, of welcoming the person of Jesus.

For this reason, the Christian and Christian communities must first look to and help others to look to Christ, the true path that leads to God" (General Audience, November 14, 2012). 
 
Our consideration of the Second Coming of Jesus should fill us with a renewed sense of hope and it should instill in us an even greater urgency to be committed apostles of Jesus Christ.  

\"In the night when all sound, all activity of men shall be silent, when the voices of all men and of all nations are still, may my soul, through its good works, shine out in you, O Jesus, light of the just.

In that hour when darkness like a cloak shall be spread over all things, may your grace, O Lord, shine on us in place of the earthly sun.  In that night which brings to an end the course of this world and all its activities, may our souls behold your wonders in that quiet which is more than silence.

In that hour, refreshing the weary through the sleep that lies on all men, may our minds be inebriated with your delights, O delight of all the Saints!  In that time of dark night, may a new sun arise for us.  Then let us take wing in that hope which was laid up for us in your resurrection" (Saint Eprhem the Syrian, deacon and hermit). 

Father James Farfaglia is a contributing writer for Catholic Online and author of Get Serious! - A Survival Guide for Serious Catholics. Father's book makes a great Christmas gift for the people in your life who need to get back to God. You can visit Father James on the web at www.fatherjames.org and listen to the audio podcast of this Sunday homily.  
 

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Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.

Keywords: sunday homily, homily, homilies, catholic online, fr. james farfaglia, second coming

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