Heavenly fulfillment should be the goal of every Christian

Father John A. Kiley
Posted

It is helpful to recall from time to time that Christianity is 2,000 years old, and also to remember that the Judaeo-Christian tradition was established about 3,500 years ago.

During these thirty odd centuries, the social and cultural atmosphere within which the Judaeo-Christian tradition has been operating has varied a great deal. The first Christians saw three centuries of persecution under the Romans. During the Dark Ages, the faith endured centuries of onslaught at the hands of barbarians. The monastic era witnessed deepened spirituality and heightened contemplation. The Middle Ages saw religion prosper as cathedrals, universities and religious orders flourished. Religious beliefs were splintered and sectarian factions were multiplied during the Reformation. The church expanded greatly into the Americas and the Orient during the age of exploration.

In modern times Catholicism and religion in general are being squeezed from the public arena as secular values dominate civic culture.

It was not only culture that varied from age to age during Christianity’s long history. Daily life itself has altered drastically from the era of the apostles through to the 21st century. For most of Christianity’s history, daily life was brutal and brief. Work on the land and then work in the mills meant long hours. Military service threatened the lifespan of men; child birth was arduous for women; disease shortened the life of adults and children.

Considering the threat that came from persecution and invasion, disease and division and reflecting on the coarseness of private life in previous centuries, it is little wonder that the promise of eternal life held greater attraction for ancient and medieval man than heaven does for modern generations. Previous eras knew they would face their maker through violence or disease much more quickly than modern man reckons.

The promise of heaven provided much more relief for the oppressed and beleaguered believers of the past than for the comfortable and contented masses of the modern Western world. Terrorism, unemployment and social unrest are certainly major contemporary issues but they are not the threat that slaughter, starvation and scarcity were to our ancestors. Sadly, the consolation of heaven is much less compelling for a modern believer than celestial solace was for the weary generations of the past.

The ambivalence of the Palm Sunday liturgy with its joyful procession, regal red vestments, and enhanced assembly followed by the lengthy, dramatic narrative of Christ’s passion and death reflects somewhat this dual nature of the Christian life. The contrast between heaven and earth, eternity and time, God and man permeates today’s ceremony. Nowhere is this gap more obvious than in the celebrated responsorial psalm. The 22nd psalm begins with the sad words spoken by Christ from the cross, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” Could any more mournful expression come from the lips of the Son of God? The dirge continues with images redolent of the Stations of the Cross: “All who see me scoff at me; they mock me with parted lips; they wag their heads: ‘He relied on the Lord — let him deliver him; let him rescue him, if he loves him.” Indeed, many dogs surround me; a pack of evildoers closes in upon me; they have pierced my hands and my feet; I can count all my bones. They divide my garments among them; and for my vesture they cast lots.”

Then dramatically the psalm rejects this mood of abandonment and concludes on a note of exuberant hope: “I will proclaim your name to my brethren; in the midst of the assembly I will praise you: You who fear the Lord, praise him; all you descendants of Jacob, give glory to him; revere him, all you descendants of Israel!” The prayer of the crucified Jesus reminds the believer that this world, no matter how harsh and brutal, no matter how comfortable and comforting, is not the eventual goal of the Christian life. Christians have an ultimate summons to embrace, deepen and expand their appreciation of the spiritual realities that descend from God in heaven.

Heavenly fulfillment is the decisive reality before which earthly concerns, no matter how pressing or depressing, should grow faint, turn pale, and fade away. Praising God in the final assembly of the just is the ultimate achievement.