This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.
Video games today are characterized by photorealism. Travel is quick and relatively painless. As for smart phones: One finds pictures on the Internet of all the things that used to require their own device, and now fit on that device in your pocket: Radios and CD players, cameras, DVD players, TVs, calculators, flash lights, etc.
We may truly marvel at these things and think that humanity has really arrived.
So it was for the Jews of Jesus’ day who felt like their nation had really arrived, as they contemplated the rich, beautiful adornments of the temple. But Jesus warned them that of that temple, stone would not be left upon stone.
Such admonitions could cause us to wonder: When will the next shoe drop? Dystopian post-apocalyptic stories are popular today, partly because there is a latent fear in many of our disproportionate reliance on our ultra-sophisticated technological advances.
But Jesus assures us that while, yes, conflicts will arise and bad things will happen, we need not fear total collapse until the true end–the time appointed by God.
Today’s first reading foretells what will occur when that end comes. It talks about the son of man reaping earth’s harvest with a sharp sickle, and an angel reaping the ripe grapes from the earth. This actually sounds somewhat positive until, in the last line, we learn that these grapes are cast into the winepress of God’s fury!
It is important to work for justice on the earth, to ensure that our systems of government are not oppressive, and even to strive for technological advances that can make people’s lives easier. Imagine, for example, an invention that ensured provision of fresh water to every human on the planet.
But we need not expect the earth to turn into a utopia, a near-ideal place to live, as the result of efforts for justice. Scripture is clear that the world has rebelled against God, and its state of rebellion will endure. At the end of time, the fruits the world produces as a whole will not be pleasing to God. And so, while striving for justice on this earth, we must above all strive to help others convert to Christ for the sake of their eternal welfare, after their earthly life.
Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Think about where your hopes lie. Do you hope in some way for an earthly utopia? Maybe you’ll finally find paradise on your next vacation… Maybe in retirement… Ask Jesus to help you understand if your earthly hopes for happiness are unrealistic and perhaps unbalanced, and to help you place your hope in His destiny for you in eternity.
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