Word to the Wise
Friday, December 1, 2023 - Friday in the 34th Week in Ordinary Time
[Dan 7:2-14 and Luke 21:29-33]"Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away." [Luke]
Is anything permanent in this world? It's a question that vexes many minds. The question is particularly vexing when "transcendent" things like truth and beauty and faith depend so much on an external or material expression. The loss of the temple in Jerusalem created confusion and fear. Could this be the end of time? The popularity of apocalyptic literature like the Book of Daniel in no small part finds its roots in the fear of the end of time! The Gospel According to Luke is meant to comfort and challenge those who were living in fear because the one big expression of God's presence - the temple - was gone without "one stone left upon another." Needless to say, the world did not "end" at that time, but the challenge remained to live with the end of time in mind - the second coming of Christ! Daily cares and human weakness can dull the alertness!
Catholic tradition includes the idea of the church existing in a transcendent way as a kind of perfect society with imperfect members here on earth. This is not the only way of understanding it, however. By virtue of our baptism we become members of the Body of Christ - a very physical reality. Our dependence on certain visual or physical things like St. Peter's Basilica in Rome or even Vatican City State as reassuring images could be threatened by something like an earthquake, which has happened in Rome in the past. What always remains, as Jesus reminds us in today's gospel, are his words and his presence which remind us that love of God and neighbor are the permanent earthly AND transcendent realities.
Historically, Judaism moved from the lost temple into the synagogue. The power of the local "church" community can help us to focus on the task of supporting one another and building up faith and practice with a view not only toward the end of time, but the end of each and every precious human life in our community. AMEN