Our Blessed End, Our Blessed Destiny

Saturday of the 34th Week in course 2022

Here in the last weeks of our Church year, we have been hearing the Holy Spirit telling us about our “end.” Yes, the use of that word immediately brings to mind the last judgement and the final days of the universe, but the Holy Spirit is more clearly speaking to us about our personal and community end, our goal, the destiny that God brought us to life to attain. And that end is eternal union with God, forever experiencing the Beatific Vision attained when we are perfectly united with the Blessed Trinity. So that explains why our psalm today is a celebration of the presence of the Lord, where we will always make a joyful noise to Him with psalms of praise. When all the universe is freely subject to Jesus Christ, Our Lord, He will subject all creation to the Father. That is our destiny; that is our joy.

Our role as we prepare for that glorious day is fairly simple. We need to live and die, loving God to the best of our ability, and effectively loving our neighbor, particularly the poor and marginalized found in every place in the world. We must take heed to ourselves, disciplining our disordered passions. We can’t give place to dissipation and drunkenness and all the cares of this life. If our focus is on such nonsense, if we avoid our truly important duties to others, the day of the Lord will not be enjoyable. That’s why Jesus tells us to keep vigil, like the police and firefighters holding down the third watch in our city. All of us will face that day, either individually when we fall asleep for the last time, or collectively if Jesus returns during our life on earth. If we are in a graced state, we will have no fear. If not, we will have nothing but fear.

St. John’s vision, related in the last book of Scripture, is full of imagery and metaphors from OT times. The Psalmist and Ezekiel, speaking from the chronically dry land of Palestine, saw the grace of God flowing from the Temple, from Jerusalem, as a huge river of pure water. So he pictures that kind of river flowing in the New Jerusalem in heaven, out of the throne of God. All of the Blessed will see the face of God, the vision that we were designed to experience as our end. The scary darkness will be no more, because the face of God will cast a bright light everywhere. We will not have to fear any human government, because, full of charity and justice, the Redeemed will rule creation forever, entirely one with the will of God. Would we want anyone we know to miss that? Then we need to share the promise of Christ with all we meet.