Until He comes again

 

A great plague has infected the world: sadness, anxiety, division, hatred and despair have invaded many minds and hearts.  Atheism has taken hold. There is no God, it is claimed and there is no life after death.  Ultimately, our lives are deemed meaningless except in so far as we subjectively give it meaning, so they say.  And this stance means that for us there is no absolute right or wrong except what I think or what we think;  there is no ultimate reality or truth outside opinions, interpretations and self-determination. 

What can we say? St Paul was, indeed, right to say ‘for the wages of sin is death…’ (Romans 6:23).  When we arrogate to ourselves control of reality, morality and meaning we end with a lie, a great injustice and a collapse in meaning.  Death has the upper hand.  Is it any world that our world and our societies are so corrupt and sick?

There is only one antidote: Jesus Christ who has come in the flesh to set all flesh free.  The verse that says ‘the wages of sin is death’ is completed as follows:

‘but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord’

In the mass which is the greatest thing on earth this side of Heaven we do as St Paul says in his Letter to the Church in Corinth:

‘For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.’  (1 Corinthians 11:26)

We cling to this in faith, hope and love. And love will overcome everything including death.