Today's Readings
Jesus informs his disciples that they are living in a blessed time. They are seeing what everyone has been waiting for. They are hearing the Gospel, the Good News with the power to save the world. We are living in that same blessed time. Sure, it would be nice to see Jesus walking around and be able to literally follow him, but we are living in AD.
The mysteries of the universe are unlocked for us. We may not see Jesus walking around right now, but we are actually more blessed than even those Christians who came before us. St. Peter and St. Paul did not have the benefit of the New Testament. St. Therese did not have the benefit of St. Therese. All the saints of the past 2000 years are examples for us. The theology worked out over the past 2000 years makes being a Christian so much easier.
We know that God will forgive our sins. We know that this life is not as good as it gets. We know that the Second person of the Most Blessed Trinity came down from heaven and became man in the womb of the Virgin Mary. We know that he died and rose again, and we know how we too can participate in this Resurrection. Above all, we have been sent the Holy Spirit, and if he never works the kind of miracle in your life that astounds people, he is working miracles in your life every day nevertheless.
When we consider our age, we probably either think that we are blessed because we live in the age of cars and computers, of antibiotics and airplanes, or we think that we are cursed because we live in the age of abortion and war and many other evils. Yet none of these technological achievements mean anything in comparison to the arrival of Jesus Christ, and none of the evils of this world are more powerful than the Gospel we have received.
Between baptism and confession, we are protected from the evils of this world. In the Eucharist we receive the very Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ. We are blessed. We have seen and heard and tasted what prior generations could not even have dreamed about. What will we do with this opportunity?
Daily Homilies
