So....

...May 21st came and we are still here.  This is not the first time that well-meaning individuals have tried to predict the "End of Days."  All throughout history, folks have assigned a calendar date to Judgment Day.  However, we need to take into account the words of no less than Jesus, Himself, who notes, in St. Mark's Gospel, that:

[32] But of that day or hour no man knoweth, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father. [33] Take ye heed, watch and pray. For ye know not when the time is.

We need to trust Jesus' words.  Of course, that is not to say that we  can just sit around and do nothing.  None of us know when the hour will come when either the Lord will return or when He will call us to Himself.  All we can do is "watch and pray". 

But, what does this "watching and praying" constitute?  It means preparing ourselves, our souls.  My prelate friend observed that there was an unusually high turnout for confessions this evening.  He reasoned that,  perhaps, this had something to do with the predicted doom that was to hit us.  While, obviously, the predictions did not pan out, they did spur the faithful to confession. That can only be a good thing.  God uses whatever means necessary to help us, even faulty prophecies.

And so it is with May 21st.  And, perhaps, so it will probably be with the next big prediciton, the Mayan Calendar end date of December 21, 2012.  But, once again, we need to remember Jesus' warning about assigning a date to Doomsday.  Just as we don't know when we are going to die, we don't know when He will return.   We just have to pray and trust in God.