Word to the Wise
Friday, November 26, 2010 - Friday in the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
[Revelation 20:1-4, 11, 21:1 and Luke 21:29-33]Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The former heaven and the former earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.....[Revelation]<br /> Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
We are such creatures of space and time that it is difficult, except in fantasy fiction, to conceive of a "reality" that transcends those vital dimensions! In fact, the very effort to imagine the end of space and time is more a human thing than divine! The people of Jesus' time did not think in such terms. The return of the Lord for them did not mean the end of space and time. On the contrary, the general expectation of the Lord's return would be that he would come to reestablish Israel as God's Chosen People and a new kingdom, free from the occupying Roman power! There would be a "new Jerusalem." God's intervention in history would mean a radical change of "reality" but not the end of space and time!
We know now that the expectations of the early Christian community about an imminent return of Jesus were not to be met! God is not governed by space and time! A "new heavens and a new earth" would gradually be "internalized" and then made evident in the preaching of the gospel throughout the world. Perseverance became (and remains) the way we humans keep our faith and preaching fresh and alive. Our communities must be more than museums of the past. Rather they should be gatherings of faith- and grace-filled believers and gateways to hope. Tradition's role is best exercised when it "reminds," instead of "binds." The Second Coming happens every day. On Sunday, we begin the Advent Season which will remind us once more of our longing and need for the coming of Christ in time and space, and how that promise came to be and continues to lead us forward in the person of Jesus! AMEN