The scriptures refer to the coming of Jesus Christ. This coming of Christ has led to a variety of interpretations. Some Christians believe that at the end of time Jesus Christ will return from heaven to earth to claim his own, and to take up all those who believe in him to heaven. This event is regarded as the rapture. The idea of rapture is prevalent among pictures of what the end of time will resemble. If one asks an average number of Christians what they think the end of time will be like. Many will mention the event of rapture. Why this is the case should not be altogether shocking. There are biblical references that mention a second coming of Christ. Also the Bible talks of people going up at the call of Christ.The Catholic Church acknowledges eschatology. She emphasizes the urgency of the Christian message and the need for steady vigilance and readiness and the value of time. A rapture event (viz. the physical personal transport of living individuals into heaven) is not in the belief of the Catholic Church.
In the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the seventh article of the Creed teaches that Jesus Christ will come again to judge the living and the dead. (668-682).
Some Catholics do not contest when approached with teachings about a future event of rapture. The popular circulation of material about rapture by other Christians of various denomination contributes to such an outlook. For this reason it is beneficial to the Catholic faithful to know what the Catholic Church teaches about the end of time. I believe that the accent of the biblical passages is on spiritual readiness, on preparedness and a real sense of urgency and time. Parousia is about living. It is about valuing the present moment, the now that is the key of existence. This is the clear spirit conveyed in the Catechism.
Biola University professor Alan Hultberg has writtten a book Three Views on the Rapture. An evangelical Christian, he believes in the rapture. He defines it as: "the doctrine that at the return of Christ, all believers will be caught up (i.e., “raptured”) to meet the Lord in the air. The bodies of dead believers will be resurrected, and all believers, living and dead, will be glorified." (url: http://magazine.biola.edu/article/12-spring/what-is-the-rapture-and-when-will-it-happen/) Hultberg states that the doctrine is taught explicitly in 1 Thessalonians 4:15–17 and more or less implicitly in 1 Corinthians 15:51–55 and John 14:2. Matthew 24:31; 2 Thessalonians 1:10; and Revelation 14:14–16 are debated biblical references. Hultberg also states that there are three views on the rapture event. They are the pretribulation, the posttribulation and the prewrath views. These views reflect a position on the time of the rapture event according to biblical references. Hultberg's is a systematic account of a pressing topic and his book helps to reflect on a diversifying and intriguing subject.
We have seen some of the biblical passages cited to attest the reality of the rapture. What do they say and what do they mean? In 1 Thessalonians 4, Paul writes: "For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel's call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first; then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up (rapiemur, Latin, from rapio, I seize, I catch up) together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we shall always be with the Lord. (1Th 4:15-17 RSV)"
I Thessalonians 4:15-17 is followed by a description: the passage is a statement of comfort. The letter to the Thessalonians addresses an important issue. At the time, believers misunderstood Paul's teaching about the Second Coming of Christ and held as the coming of Christ was imminent they would witness it. The church then worried and grieved about the consequence of believers, loved ones who died before Christ's coming. Paul tells them not to sorrow. He comforts them by the teaching of the resurrection.
In 1 Corinthians 15:51-55, Paul writes: "Lo! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable nature must put on the imperishable, and this mortal nature must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory." "O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting?" (1Co 15:51-55 RSV)"
In John 14:2, the evangelist writes: "In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And when I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. (Jn 14:2-3 RSV)"
In his General Audience (12 November 2008) Benedict XVI continued his catechesis on St Paul. He devoted the audience to the subject "Eschatology : the Expectation of the Parusia." The Holy Father explains that parusia or expectation of the Lord's return is related to the resurrection. There exists a relationship between the present time, the time of the Church and of the Kingdom of God and the future (eschaton) when Christ will offer the Kingdom to the Father (cf. 1 Cor 15:24). So, eschatology (the doctrine of the last things) begins with the resurrection.
Pope Benedict continues that in about the year 52 St Paul wrote the First Letter to the Thessalonians. It was his first Letter. This letter contains the description of the return of Christ (parusia or advent). (4:13-18) The members of the Church in Thessalonia worried about their loved ones not experiencing the coming of Christ. Paul comforts them and states that God will bring forth with Christ all who have died. (4:14) The living will go up into the clouds to meet the Lord. (4:16-17) Pope Benedict XVI explains that Paul's description of the parusia of Christ is done in special vivid language and with symbolic imagery. His simple and powerful message is the word that concludes the description: "and so we shall always be with the Lord." (4:17) These final words is the meaning of the text: "Over and above the images, this is the essential message: our future is "to be with the Lord". As believers, we are already with the Lord in our lifetime; our future, eternal life, has already begun."
Pope Benedict XVI highlights three points. First, the symbolic imagery and vivid language of Paul's description. Second, the meaning of the passage: we shall always be with the Lord. Third, being with the Lord begins here in the present life. This is the proper way to understand the scriptural teaching in St Paul on parousia.
In this General Audience Pope Benedict XVI shows that the Paul's teaching on the return of the Lord in 1 Thessalonians 4 finds a larger context in the second letter to Thessalonians as well as in the letter to the Philippians. In 2 Thessalonians Paul changes his perspective. There will be negative events before the coming of the Lord. He admonishes the church to be calm. They should avoid deceptive messages about the day of the coming of Christ. Paul states that the rebellion shall come first, and then the man of lawlessness shall be revealed. (2 Thess 2:1-4) Pope Benedict XVI explains that expecting the return of the Lord does not translate to idleness, laziness and lethargy. This is the message of St Paul. We must work while in this world. We cannot be mere busybodies not working. The Greek word for busybody is periergos and it literally means one who bustles about, one whose occupation (ergos, work) is to go about (peri, around) meddling and discussing in people's affairs. (cf. 1 Timothy 5:3) That is not the proper activity for a Christian expecting the Lord's return. In 2 Thess 3, Paul writes sternly that any person who does not work should not eat. He presents his example of hardwork as the path of the believer in Jesus. So Pope Benedict XVI writes: "The expectation of Jesus' parusia does not dispense us from working in this world but, on the contrary, creates responsibility to the divine Judge for our actions in this world. For this very reason our responsibility for working in and for this world increases." A positive spirit towards hard work and toil is an essential part of the Christian attitude. As the Christian awaits the advent and return of the Lord she is to abhor and shun idleness and earn a living by diligent and quiet toil.
Pope Benedict XVI makes the additional points. Fourth, Paul wanted the members of the Church in Thessalonians to be weary of false predictions abou the coming of the Lord. It is a caveat that resonates to the present day. Fifth, commitment and responsibility to work in this world remains. Christians should not fold their hands because they are expecting the Lord. The expectation of the Lord demands the fulfilment of responsibility rather than its cessation. Pope Benedict XVI connects the teaching in 2 Thessalonians about work to "the Gospel of the Talents, in which the Lord tells us that he has entrusted talents to everyone and that the Judge will ask for an account of them saying: have they been put to good use? Hence the expectation of his return implies responsibility for this world."
The letter to the Philippians according to Pope Benedict relates the expectation of the Lord to commitment to the lives of those in the world. St Paul is in prison and expects to die. For him to die is to be with Christ. He is desirous to encounter the Lord. However, as a father, he is concerned and committed to the community at Philippi he would leave behind. He writes: "But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account." (Philippians 1:24) Here is St Paul so close to the encounter but choosing to live for the sake of his flock. His model is Christ who did not live for himself. Pope Benedict XVI writes: "Living for others becomes his life and plan thus demonstrates his perfect readiness to do God's will, to do whatever God decides. Above all he is prepared, in the future as well, to live on this earth for others, to live for Christ, to live for his living presence and thus for the renewal of the world. We see that his being with Christ creates an broad inner freedom: freedom in the face of the threat of death but also freedom in the face of all life's commitments and sufferings. He is simply at God's disposal and truly free."
The reference to the letter to the Philippians highlights a sixth point. The expectation of the return of the Lord involves committing oneself to the will of God. There is no anxiety here but inner freedom.
Pope Benedict XVI concludes the General Audience with what he calls the three (3) "basic convictions of Christians as regards the last things [viz.] death and the end of the world." That Jesus is Risen and is with the Father and is with us forever forms the first basic conviction. We are safe and secure, free from fear. "Christ lives, he has overcome death, he has overcome all these powers. We live in this certainty, in this freedom, and in this joy. This is the first aspect of our living with regard to the future."
The assuredness that Christ is with me is the second basic conviction. He writes: "Without Christ, even today the world's future is dark, and fear of the future is so common." The hope of Christians provides certainty; it empowers us with courage to face the future.
The Christian's third basic conviction is that we have the duty to live in this world in accordance with Christ's way of living. Jesus our Judge has given us this duty and responsibility. When he returns as Judge and Saviour, He will ask us if we have been good stewards of the talents He has given us. "Our third conviction, therefore, is responsibility before Christ for the world, for our brethren and at the same time also for the certainty of his mercy."
In conclusion, Pope Benedict XVI states that the Marana, tha! prayer is difficult. "Can we pray like this too? It seems to me that for us today, in our lives, in our world, it is difficult to pray sincerely for the world to perish so that the new Jerusalem, the Last Judgment and the Judge, Christ, may come." We want the world to be a better place. We want an end to global injustice, the beginning of a new civilization of love, a world where there is no hunger, no violence and where justice and peace reign. But none of this can happen without the presence of Christ. Only he can renew the world. "Without Christ's presence there will never be a truly just and renewed world."
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