Today we have two beautiful readings in our Mass.
The first reading from St. Paul to the Romans reminds us that not only human beings, but all of creation - everything that we can see and hear in the whole universe - has been affected by Original Sin - and has lost its full integrity. The sin of humans spills over into God’s green earth - and beyond. We are more and more aware of that in our own day - with increasing consciousness of how easy it is to destroy what balance there is set in place by God. Thankfully, we are also taking some responsibility now to turn around such behaviors by action in the personal and political arenas.
But, nature, and we, our selves, will never be completely restored - until that Day when Christ our Life appears - and the full effects of his Death and Resurrection can be applied and a marvelous wholeness can be restored - and things will become even better than they were at the beginning with Adam and Eve (because we will be all and all in Christ Jesus - and nothing could be more spectacular than that! O happy fault! O necessary sin of Adam - which wrought for us so great a redeemer!)
The source of this knowledge, the assurance of hope lies, then, in Jesus, and in his Church. The promise of a redeemer was situated in the hope given by God the Father - the Creator - immediately after the first sin. He never left his human creatures without hope. Now we wait in joyful hope for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ!
And where do we wait: in the arms and branches; the bosom of the Catholic Church! There is room for all the “birds of the sky” in its branches!
The joyful anticipation of Christ’s coming, and the relieving of our corporate groaning for the fullness of redemption should be ideas that permeate our entire lives - like yeast that permeates and leavens dough.
If we live with such a forward-looking perspective, then each day will be new and exciting, and filled with work to be done on our part - to put into practice what we believe and hope for by loving works of charity - in imitation of God who has so loved us FIRST. We will help ourselves, our neighbors and the whole created world get that much closer to fullness of redemption!
Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth; you have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the Kingdom.
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