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Tuesday 34th Week OT
St. Luke’s Institute
November 25, 2014
THE COLLAPSE OF
EMPIRES ++++++++++++++++++++
Ø
What
we read abut in the newspapers and see daily on the TV news is, in many ways,
old stuff
Ø
Kingdoms,
empires, and powers have passed and crumbled before
Ø
Long
before the collapse of the entire Soviet Union, the world has seen other
empires disappear
THE HERE-AND-NOW
& THE HEREAFTER ++++++++++
Ø
Today’s
readings heighten the tension which must exist in our lives between our concern
about and our work to change our world, versus the conviction that that very
world is not eternal
Ø
Let’s
dub them the “here-and-now” and the “hereafter”
Ø
Somehow
it is worth our while to be involved in politics, to be responsible citizens,
and to work to change the injustices around us
Ø
At
the same time, all our hope cannot be in our here-and-now political party or in
free enterprise or even in the American way
THE TENSION OF THE
TWO +++++++++++++++++++++
Ø
Christian
life is inevitably a tension between the here-and-now and the hereafter
Ø
Yes,
here and now we care about the disabled child, all the while knowing someone,
somewhere continues to suffer
Ø
Here
and now we support single parent mothers and their children, knowing that so
many mothers and children will continue to suffer from violence
Ø
Here
and now we care about immigrants, knowing that slave labor and inhuman
trafficking continues
CONCLUSION ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ø
Each
of us must reach some balance between involvement and detachment
Ø
Good
material for mediation is how to be serious about our world and our ministry in
it and still keep our focus on the eternal
Ø
I’d
suggest that only time, age, prayer, and hard-gained wisdom can settle that for
any one of us
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
