Amen, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place.
Heaven and earth will pass away,
but my words will not pass away.”
Even as we reckon with the omens of climate change, the cycle of seasons revolve around us. Autumn passes into winter, and Advent is upon us. Indeed, when that final climactic change occurs and the heavens and earth pass away, the Word of God will remain to gather, reassure, and guide "this generation" into eternity.
Apparently "this generation" is the Church, the Elect of God. By our count, many generations have passed since Jesus's ascension from Jerusalem, but the Word of God has remained with us. Jerusalem has passed through many hands as the Romans leveled it, the Muslims overran it, the Crusaders captured it, the Muslims took it back, and imperialists of Britain and Germany fought over it. Through it all the Church has remained in the world and, usually, in Jerusalem.
...my words do not pass away. God's Word is the rock upon which the City of God is founded.
In my lifetime, which is only a moment in the history of the Church, I recall the upheaval of the Second Vatican Council, followed by the Humani Vitae controversy about birth control. in the United States the Church has seemed adrift as we faced the demographic challenges of upward mobility, immigration, secularization, and downward mobility.
A generation of children educated in excellent Catholic schools was sent to Vietnam and demoralized by that "rich man's war, poor man's fight." In the meanwhile American bishops reversed their support of the war and returning Veterans found their Church altered, locked against vandals, and unrecognizable. And sometimes hostile to the men and women we'd sent to Vietnam. Many have never returned to the faith of their childhood; it was too attached to the failed promise of America.
There followed the priest pedophilia scandal and Covid quarantines. How many will return to Sunday and weekday Mass if and when this pandemic ends?
...my words do not pass away.
We stay because the Word of God holds us. We stay because we gave our word in Baptism, Eucharist, Marriage, and daily prayer. We are spiritual and religious, and we cannot take our gaze off his precious wounds.
We may find our fidelity hard to explain to those who left. We find both their smug indifference and their obvious distress hard to fathom. Why are they not grieving the loss of faith as we grieve their absence?
I find comfort in the company of the saints. If I cannot measure up to their heroic standards, I am nonetheless somewhere on the road with them. And they don't seem to mind my being with them. And, at the same time, I find myself less at home in this world with its polarized politics, hyperventilated entertainment, and all consuming waste.
...my words do not pass away. Nor does this generation.
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.