Separating Light from Dark
by Fr. David M. Knight
Tuesday, November 26, 2024
Thirty-Fourth Week of the Year
Rv 14:14-19/Lk 21:5-11 (Lectionary 504)
In Luke 21:5-11 Jesus is talking about events within the time-frame of our earthly history. He said the Temple—“adorned with precious stones and votive offerings” that impressed the people so much—was going to be destroyed. It was, by the Romans, in 70 A.D. Physical monuments to earthly wealth and power cannot be counted on to last and shouldn’t be missed. Impressive buildings filled with artwork that attract tourists (like St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome) may do more harm than good. If “wars and insurrections” deprive us of them, we “must not be perturbed.”
By coincidence, in another “year 70” the “papal states” were dismantled. These were territories of central Italy governed by the pope as temporal ruler from 756 to 1870. Encouraged by widespread public demonstrations, the Italian government besieged Rome in 1870. Pope Piux IX insisted on a token resistance by papal troops to show he did not consent to giving up temporal power. The popes did not accept the situation until Pius XI signed the Lateran Treaty in 1929. Remnants of royal attitude remain.
When religion has a rich face, its heart is obscured.
Revelation 14:14-19 calls us to look beyond the time-frame of this earth to the day when “One like a Son of Man, wearing a gold crown on his head and holding a sharp sickle in his hand,” will come to separate true values from false.
The fields that are “ripe for the harvest” will be reaped by the “Son of Man,” Jesus himself. These are the faithful who have borne fruit. The unfaithful are the “grapes of wrath.” An angel is sent to cut them down and throw them into the “winepress of God’s wrath. (See Matthew 9:37; 13:30.)
The point is that earthly appearances don’t count and don’t last. Christians are neither impressed nor distressed by what is merely created. Christians are impressed only by the mystery of God’s presence in created things: his power giving them existence and acting within all they do; his love giving them to us for our benefit; his love urging us to use them for the benefit of others.
Christians are distressed only by the falsehood that denies or distorts true meaning and value. Christians have been “ransomed as the first fruits of humanity.... On their lips no deceit has been found.” Having “become Christ” we ask to see with his eyes, think with his thoughts, speak with his words, and act as his body on earth. Jesus promised that if we “abide in his word,” we will “truly be his disciples”: we will “know the truth, and the truth will make us free.” We just have to live in constant awareness of the mystery revealed in his word. (See John 8:31-36.)
Our distress at falsehood is balanced by our assurance that one day everything will be brought into the light. Jesus, the Word of God, will establish the Truth of God in every mind and heart. Then all will be one in the One.
Initiative: Look forward to the “judgment,” the “separation” of light from dark.
Reflections brought to you by the Immersed in Christ Ministry
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