When they had gathered together they asked him,
“Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
As the apostles shows us, from the very beginning, the Church has wondered when Christ was going to return. But unlike the many occasions when he spoke in parables and ways that leave us today scratching our heads, this time, he answered them in very clear and direct terms: It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has established by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.” Often times, when the answer is something that we don’t want to hear, we try to look more deeply to find a hidden meaning. Not only do we want our Lord to return–and this is a good thing to desire– but we also want to know when he is going to return. We want to know when is the world going to end so that we can be prepared; we don’t want to be caught off guard; many are afraid that we might miss him and so be left behind. But recall his other words: You are children of light, not of the darkness. And those in the light have no fear of the thief because they see him coming.
Not only will we not know the hour (this is a strong hint that anyone who claims to know the hour is not right), but Jesus tells the Apostles they will not even know the seasons determined for the coming of the Kingdom. He answers in a way that is telling them: You are asking something that you do not need to know. Not because our Father is unfairly marking this as need-to-know and they are not of the chosen ones. These were the Apostles. They are the chosen ones whose thrones are seen in the Book of Revelation surrounding the altar of heaven and who are the foundation of the New Jerusalem.
He tells them: What you need to know, rather, is that I will send you the Holy Spirit so that you can be virtuous and faithful and have all that you need to go to all the nations announcing salvation and preparing the earth to receive the Kingdom of my Father. In other words, go forth and till the soil (remember the parable of the sower and the vineyard). Like Adam was placed in the Garden to tend the soil and no plant had yet grown because man had not been there to work the soil, so the Apostles were sent into the world.
Do not worry about when the Kingdom, nor about the signs that may accompany its arrival; do not worry about identifying the season. Focus, rather, about being good and faithful. Live as the Lord has instructed us. Share him and the news of his Salvation to the world. As the Apostles and numerous Saints have shown us. So long as we follow the Lord, live in his light, and live a life of faithfulness, virtue and mercy, then, there is nothing to worry about.