Our two readings today provide us with quite a contrast. The first is visionary, providing us with an image of the promised age to come, when all will celebrate the victory of Christ over darkness. Our second reading from the Gospel of Luke, however, concludes Jesus' apocalyptic discourse we have been listening to these last days of the Church year, in which he has been describing the challenges that await us before His ultimate victory. He ends his discourse with a warning, urging us not to allow the cares and distractions of this life to so occupy our attention that we will forget what is most important in our lives - to be ready for the day on which Christ will call us. All of us are destined in one way or another to see the worlds we have spent our lives building crumble and come to an end - it is part of life. Jesus warns us not to become so tied to them that we forget what is the ultimate end of our lives - to "stand before the Son of Man." Rather than being something to fear, our first reading consoles us using imagery found in the prophesies of Ezekiel which we heard earlier this month, that the coming of the Son of Man will be a joyful event, when "night shall be no more," and the river of the water of life will nourish all things. We live in a tension between the two poles of expectation and apprehension, awaiting and watching for the Lord.