Placing oneself in the "astral" upheavals

(Lk 21:20-28)

«And there will be signs in the sun and in the moon and in the stars, and on the earth anguish of nations in bewilderment by the roaring of the sea and the waves» (v.25).

"In these years, the daily reality of our century, tormented already at the dawning of a new millennium, bears the hopes of humanity. The historical process of inculturation of the Gospel and evangelisation of cultures is far from having exhausted all its latent energies. The eternal newness of the Gospel encounters the emergence of cultures in genesis or undergoing renewal. The emergence of new cultures clearly appeals to the courage and intelligence of all believers and all people of goodwill. Social and cultural transformations, political upheavals, ideological ferment, religious restlessness, ethical research, it is a whole world in gestation that aspires to find form and orientation, organic synthesis and a new prophetic season. We know how to draw new answers from the treasury of our hope.

Faced with socio-political imbalances, with scientific discoveries that are not fully controlled, with technical inventions of unprecedented magnitude, mankind remains confusedly the twilight of old ideologies and the wear and tear of old systems. New peoples provoke the old societies, as if to awaken them from their laxity. Young people in search of ideals aspire to give meaning to the human adventure. Neither drugs, violence, permissiveness nor nihilism can fill the void of existence. Minds and hearts are searching for the light that illuminates and the love that warms. Our age reveals to us in the void the spiritual hunger and immense hope of consciences".

[Pope John Paul II, Address to the Pontifical Council for Culture 13 January 1986].

At the time of Jesus the eternal city was self-destructing, but the distance between heaven and earth was thinning.

Living Word and ecclesial meditation.

Today, too, we experience reversals: suddenly the fulfilling centre becomes shabby periphery, and vice versa.

And in all walks of life, everyone aspires, tries, explores, migrates, wants to live completely; they are no longer content with the conditions of departure.

Disquiet also spreads to the religious institution, which seemed fixed, certain, eternal, immutable.

Recently, the Pontiff himself spoke of internal 'degeneration'.

How can this be explained? What is the trauma aimed at? And the resulting fall in faith?

On the contrary, what matters about the crisis is precisely in the inner states it activates - despite external perceptions of loss.

We have to disengage ourselves from apparent causes, to enter the depths of the spaces we feel violated.

That pain is part of ourselves, part of the journey of Faith.

By recognising and welcoming it as an intimate vein, a genuine side of being that belongs to us, we regain integrity; we can start again.

The authentic Church thinks about the meaning of the journey... also of the whole of history.

It reflects in particular on the unravelling of the holy city and the instability of its cosmos - that of the venerable hierarchies: what was on high now falls ruinously.

The old land of 'promise' is suddenly strewn with ruins: its seemed a heavenly time, passed off as divine; instead, it was a moment, perhaps largely earthly.

On the rubble looms the end of the ancient order, shattered in its archaic prestige and order itself.

As Pope Francis [for example] declared: 'In a Church for the poor, more missionary, there is no room for those who enrich themselves or their magic circle by unworthily wearing the cassock'.

The new world will have reversed hierarchies (vv.25-26) and is already causing the crumbling of the pedestals of political, pious and social mythology that have been revealed as earthly.

They have exhausted their useless appeal; they have run out of time. This while a 'wonderful people follow Jesus Christ'.

First the obsession with sin, awe and inadequacy preached to all, and the dehumanising, barren steppes produced by civil, military and religious power.

Bitter fruits generated by chosen powers, by worldly princelings, by the stars that seemed celestial [sun, moon, stars and powers that have always towered above humanity: vv.25-26].

The veil has been removed from their teachings: they were not at all angelic, but of this world.

They had partial, purely temporal agendas. They did not form the whole of life.

And here, finally, is the beginning of a new Kingdom, which is inaugurated in the appearance of a Son, of a Friend with the heart of a man and not of a beast (cf. Dan 7:2-14).

A sense of death lurks at the bottom of institutional history, but it is here that the soul is liberated and sublimated.A new Calling stirs the personal conscience and supplants the ancient principalities. Social summits that laid down the law and controlled everything, oppressing and crushing every new expression of life that rose from below.

Conversely, the Vocation by Name offers the harmony and fraternity of the original Design, conceived as a nuptial feast.

Truths still established will instead be (finally) measured by a saving Presence.

"Flesh" like us and "Rock" like God.

A challenging Grace is rising over the supposed catastrophe, an inexorable stage for the establishment of a whole new Fraternity - and the appearance of a new Creation.

Thus, ruin and destruction will turn into high consciousness; exodus, joy of transformation, sense of freedom.

Childlike hope that recomposes the fear of those who thought the Solemn Religion and the sublime enthroned Talar authorities as a safe fortress.

The task of the new communities in Christ will be the initiation, the building and the fulfilment of a humanising history, the source in itself of Hope; which overcomes the pre-human time and supplants it with extreme decision.

The relationship between the faithful and the pyramidal mundane - once passed off as sovereign and almost placed in the heavens, on high - will be one of contrast.

The cosmos that has now become meaningless is imploding, in the agony of its finiteness.

For such an upheaval there is only to rejoice.

On the contrary, the style of those who make the world human will be a harbinger of the victory that divinises each one - a triumph that is otherworldly.

For the leaven of history is that of the body bent in service, and the head lifted up in expectation of the Lord who comes in continuity.

On every occasion, the attitude of the woman and man of Faith will remain that of one who prepares a new, unpredictable and decisive event [as the appointment with the Coming Christ and Wayfarer always reveals itself even in the details of existence].

But one must help oneself to perceive the closeness of this impersonated meaning: the choice between collapse and despair or happiness and liberation happens now, in the time of life that turns to the moment of the encounter with the glorious Risen One.

We will be without regrets for the impressive 'smoke' of that which has self-destructed - because of its low human-divine figure.

And at all costs we will remain faithful not to ideologies or "solid" idols of flab and papier-mâché, but to the experience of God in a missionary dimension, aware that the future is fulfilled day by day.

All this we will activate, even when we are deemed unwise, for the common configurations.

Thus - ousted from roles - we will compromise our beautiful and more serene careers as officials.

All the more reason for us to be convivial.

In Him the upheavals will be transformed: into acute consciousness and happy relationships, emancipated of infinity and justice.

New Majesty, who does not reject the night.

For when we pause in the pain we would like to flee, the distances between heaven and earth are thinning.

To internalise and live the message:

How human is your divine?

And in ecclesial matters:

Assuming the language of Pope Francis, what do you think of the "invisible enemy" that still obstructs the reform of internal (paganising) mechanisms and anomalies in the apostolic palaces [and "fake lay friends" everywhere] that do little to suit the evangelical spirit and an ideal "glass house"?

Crisis of a civilisation

Paganisation", "worldliness", "corruption" lead to the destruction of the person. But the Christian, called to confront the 'trials of the world', in the difficulties of life has a horizon of hope because he is invited to the 'wedding of the Lamb'. During the Mass celebrated at Santa Marta on the morning of Thursday 29 November, Pope Francis continued to follow the cues of the liturgy which, in the final week of the liturgical year, proposes a series of provocations on the theme of the end, of the "end of the world", of the "end of each one of us".

In the day's liturgy of the word, the Pontiff explained at the beginning of his homily, the two readings taken from Revelation (18, 1-2.21-23; 19, 1-3.9) and from Luke's gospel (21, 20-28) are both characterised by "two parts: one part destruction and then one part trust; one part defeat, one part victory". The focus is on two cities with great evocative power: Babylon and Jerusalem, "two cities that are defeated".

First of all Babylon, "symbol of the worldly city, of luxury, of self-sufficiency, of the power of this world, rich". A reality that "seems joyful", yet "will be destroyed". Revelation affirms this by describing "a rite of victory: 'It has fallen. Babylon, the great, has fallen. It has fallen'". Considering her "incapable of being faithful", the Lord condemns her: "He has condemned the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her prostitution".Still referring to the biblical text, the Pontiff went into detail about the reality of Babylon. "That ostentation of luxury, of glory, of power," he said, "was a great seduction that led people to destruction. And that great city so beautiful showed its truth: 'it became a den of demons, the refuge of every unclean spirit, the refuge of every unclean bird, the refuge of every unclean and hideous beast'". Behind the "magnificence", therefore, lies "corruption: the feasts of Babylon seemed to be feasts of happy people", but "they were fake feasts of happiness, they were feasts of corruption". And for this reason, the Pope explained, the gesture of the angel described by Revelation has a symbolic power: "He took a great stone, as big as a millstone and threw it into the sea, exclaiming: 'With this violence Babylon, the great city, will be destroyed'".

Significant is the list, recalled by the Pontiff, of the consequences reserved for it. First of all, there will be no more feasts: "The sound of the musicians, of the players of zither, flute and trumpet, will no longer be heard in you". Then, since it is "not a city of labour but of corruption", there will no longer be "any craftsman of any trade" in it and "the sound of the millstone" will no longer be heard. And again: 'The light of the lamp will no longer shine in you; it will perhaps be an enlightened city, but without light, not bright; this is the corrupt civilisation'. Finally, 'the voice of the bridegroom and the bride will no longer be heard in you'. There were many couples, many people, but there will be no love'.

A destiny of destruction, the Pontiff remarked, that 'begins from within and ends when the Lord says: "Enough". And there will be a day when the Lord will say: 'Enough, to the appearances of this world'". In fact, he added, this 'is the crisis of a civilisation that thinks it is proud, sufficient, dictatorial, and ends like that'.

But a sad fate is also reserved for the other symbol-city, Jerusalem. This is spoken of in the Gospel passage in which Jesus - who "as a good Israelite" loved Jerusalem, but saw it as "adulterous, not faithful to the law" - says: "When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its devastation is near"". That is, Francis explained, the city 'is destroyed because of another kind of corruption: the corruption of infidelity to love'. Because of this infidelity it 'has not been able to recognise the love of God in his Son'. For Jerusalem, too, therefore, the fate is harsh: "And it will fall, and there will be days of vengeance. Jerusalem shall be trodden down by the Gentiles".

It is precisely in this passage from Luke's Gospel that the Pontiff singled out "a phrase that helps us understand the meaning of the destruction of both cities: the worldly city and the holy city: 'Until the days of the Gentiles are fulfilled'". The holy city will be punished because it has opened "the gates of its heart to the pagans". The Pope explained how here emerges "the paganisation of life, in our case, Christian life"; and he launched a provocation: "Do we live as Christians? It seems so. But in truth, our life is pagan'. The Christian, that is, enters into the same "seduction of Babylon and Jerusalem lives like Babylon. He wants to make a synthesis that cannot be made. And both will be condemned". Hence the questions: "Are you a Christian? Are you a Christian?" Then, he urged, 'live as a Christian', because 'you cannot mix water with oil'. Instead, today we are witnessing the 'end of a civilisation that is contradictory in itself, which says it is Christian' but 'lives as a pagan'.

At this point, the horizon of hope suggested by the readings opened up in Francis' reflection. In fact, 'after the end of the worldly city and the paganised city of God, the voice of the Lord will be heard: "After this I heard as a mighty voice of an immense crowd in heaven saying: Alleluia!"'. Hence: 'after destruction there is salvation'. As we read in chapter 19 of Revelation: 'Salvation and glory and power are of our God, for true and just are his judgments'. And the destruction of the two cities, the Pontiff explained, is "a judgement of God: He has condemned the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her prostitution, avenging on her the blood of her servants!" For that worldly city "sacrificed the servants of God, the martyrs. And when Jerusalem became paganised, it sacrificed the great martyr: the Son of God".

The vision of Revelation is grandiose: "And for the second time they said, "Hallelujah!" And the angel said: "Come, blessed are those invited to the wedding of the Lamb!"". It is the image of the "great feast, the true feast. Not the pagan feast and the worldly feast". An image of victory and hope also evoked by Jesus in the gospel: "At that moment of tragedy, then they will see the Son of Man coming on a cloud with great power and glory. When these things begin to happen, arise - in the face of tragedy, of the destruction of paganism, of worldliness, arise - lift up your heads, for your deliverance is at hand'.

Here is the message that challenges every Christian: 'There are tragedies, even in our lives, but in the face of these, look to the horizon, because we have been redeemed and the Lord will come to save us. And this,' Francis added, 'teaches us to live the trials of the world not in a pact with worldliness or paganism that leads us to destruction, but in hope, detaching ourselves from this worldly and pagan seduction, and looking at the horizon, hoping for Christ, the Lord'.

In this perspective of hope, the Pope invited us to cast a glance at the past, even the recent past, in order to reread history in the light of the word of God: "Let us think of how the 'Babylonies' of this time have ended. Let us think of the empires of the last century, for example: "It was the great, the great power...". All collapsed. Only, the humble remain who have their hope in the Lord. And so the great cities of today will also end". In the same way "our life will end if we continue to take it down this road of paganisation. It is the opposite of hope: it leads you to destruction. It is the Babylonian seduction of life that draws us away from the Lord'. Instead, the Lord, the Pontiff concluded, invites us to a "contrary path: to go forward, to look with that Alleluia of hope", because "we are, all of us, invited to the wedding feast of the Son of God". So "let us open our hearts with hope and turn away from the paganisation of life".

[Pope Francis, S. Marta homily, in L'Osservatore Romano 30/11/2018].