Friday
of the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
(Revelation 20:1-4.11-21.2; Luke 21:29-33)
A few months ago Christopher Nolan’s new
film Tenet was released. It is
action sci-fi that challenges the mind as it awes the emotions. The opening scene takes place in the
future. It may or may not really happen
depending upon the hero’s ability to control the plot. Casual viewers will likely find the movie
bizarre. But Christopher Nolan fans will
grope assiduously for its meaning. The
Book of Revelation presents a similar challenge although it should never be
casually dismissed.
Revelation was written to shore up the hope
of persecuted Christians. Its narration
of the future cannot be taken literally.
The thousand years which today’s passage references has long passed
without the promised culmination of goodness.
This does not mean that the book is mistaken. Rather the author only speculated when and
what kind of events would the triumph of goodness be. He is right in assuring that it will take
place.
We can be sure that God’s love will ultimately conquer evil because of Christ’s resurrection from the dead. We have seen other evidence as well like, for example, the Church surviving two thousand years despite many attempts to dismantle it and its own folly. For now we want to redouble our efforts to live righteous lives. We want to become partakers of the new reality the reading promises.
