The universe seems to have been around for billions of years. It could be around for billions more years. These numbers are mind-numbing when you think that humans have only been recording history for five or six thousand years. I remember a conversation I had with my father many years ago. I must have been a small child who was shocked by the cruel treatment I had received from my friends. He reminded me how I shouldn't be surprised. People are sinners. The more things change, the more they stay the same, when it comes to human nature. "There is nothing new under the sun."

Perhaps that is why Jesus' words in today's Gospel seem so unreal, almost farfetched. Almost 2,000 years ago Jesus spoke graphically of the end of the world. The universe will literally fall apart and he will return riding on the clouds in all of his glory for the final judgment. He will finally set things right. The bad guys will finally get what they had coming to them. The good guys, here called "the elect," will finally get saved. Finally, at last, there will be some closure on human history. Finally, the last out will be made and the final buzzer will sound. Finally, there will be clear winners and losers. Finally, the fat lady will sing!