When Jesus ascended into Heaven after his Crucifixion, Death, and Resurrection, the angels promised that He would return. Jesus had also promised that He would remain with his Church until the end of time.
Parousia is a Greek word that means “arrival” or “presence”. It is used to refer to the Second Coming of Christ, as well as his ongoing presence in his Church.
As Head, Jesus is always present to his Body which is the Church, especially in the liturgy and in the Eucharist, although his glory is hidden from us.
At the end of time, Jesus will return in the fullness of his glory to establish and reign over his Kingdom which will never end. He will judge where each person will spend eternity, in Heaven or hell.
In reciting the Nicene Creed and the Apostles’ Creed, Catholics profess their belief that Jesus will return from Heaven. Not knowing exactly when it will occur, they wait with joyful hope that Jesus will fulfill his promise.
There is a special emphasis on the Parousia during the liturgical season of Advent when Catholics prepare for Jesus’ return by recalling the prophecies and events leading up to when He first arrived on his Christmas birth.
We wait in joyful hope:
God’s everlasting kingdom will be fully established:
When He had said this, as they were looking on, He was lifted up, and a cloud took Him from their sight. While they were looking intently at the sky as He was going, suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus Who has been taken up from you into Heaven will return in the same way as you have seen Him going into Heaven.”
Acts 1: 9-11
The day that Jesus returns will be Judgement Day:
Jesus will come again when his bride is ready:
This twofold dimension, both present and future, of Christ’s coming is apparent in his words. In the eschatological discourse which immediately precedes the paschal drama, Jesus predicts: “They will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And then He will send out the angels, and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the Earth to the ends of Heaven”. In apocalyptic language clouds signify a theophany: they indicate that the Second Coming of the Son of Man will not take place in the weakness of flesh, but in divine power. These words of the discourse suggest the ultimate future that will bring history to an end. However, in the answer He gives to the high priest during his trial, Jesus repeats the eschatological prophecy, formulating it in terms of an imminent event: “I tell you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming on the clouds of Heaven”. By comparing these words with those of the previous discourse, one can grasp the dynamic sense of Christian eschatology as a historical process which has already begun and is moving towards its fullness.
Pope John Paul II, General Audience, 22 April 1998
Preparing for his final coming as He comes to us each day:
Living in the presence of the Lord now:
Though already present in his Church, Christ’s reign is nevertheless yet to be fulfilled “with power and great glory” by the King’s return to Earth. This reign is still under attack by the evil powers, even though they have been defeated definitively by Christ’s Passover. Until everything is subject to Him, “until there be realized new Heavens and a new Earth in which justice dwells, the pilgrim Church, in her sacraments and institutions, which belong to this present age, carries the mark of this world which will pass, and she herself takes her place among the creatures which groan and travail yet and await the revelation of the sons of God.” That is why Christians pray, above all in the Eucharist, to hasten Christ’s return by saying to him: Maranatha! “Our Lord, come!”
Catechism of the Catholic Church 671
Anticipated in the Eucharist at every Catholic Mass:
Who was, Who is, and Who is to come:
The Truth, Goodness, and Beauty of the Catholic Church
Challenged to live differently:
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