Tuesday, November 28 : Saint John Chrysostom

Would you like to learn that the cross can be a sign of the Kingdom? This is the sign with which the Lord is to come at his second, glorious coming! That you might learn just how worthy of veneration the cross is, he has made it his title of glory… As we know, his first coming was effected secretly and that discretion was justified for he came to seek out what was dead. But this second coming is not to happen like that… He will appear suddenly to all and no one will need to ask if Christ is here or there (Mt 24:26)…; we shall not need to find out whether Christ is indeed present. What we shall need to find out is whether he comes with his cross. When the Son of Man comes “the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light” (Mt 24:29). The splendor of his light will be so great that the most brilliant of the stars must dim before it. “Then the stars will fall from the sky… and the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven.” Do you see the power of this sign of the cross? “The sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light” but the cross will shine, clearly visible, so that you might know that its splendor is greater than that of the sun and the moon. Just as soldiers heave the royal standards to their shoulders at the king’s coming and bear them before him to announce his arrival, so the cohort of angels and archangels , bearing this sign on their shoulders, will warn us of the arrival of that king who is Christ at the Lord’s descent from heaven.

Roman Extraordinary (Tridentine) Daily Readings – rosary,team