When Life Begins

Living between the already and the not yet

07/07/2019

Luke 10:1-12, 17-20 At that time the Lord appointed seventy-two others whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit. The seventy-two returned rejoicing, and said, "Lord, even the demons are subject to uss because of your name." Jesus said, "I have observed Satan fall like lightning from the sky. Behold, I have given you the power to 'tread upon serpents' and scorpions and upon the full force of the enemy and nothing will harm you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice because your names are written in heaven."

Every Christian experiences the Kingdom of God in a timeless tension – a sort of tug-of-war – where we’re caught between the “already” and the “not yet.” In a sense, the Kingdom is already present in the world, and yet at the same time it has not been made manifest in all its glory. Theologians typically divide all human history into three ages or stages. First, came the Age of the Law (the Old Testament period), second, the Age of Grace (the New Testament period), and third, the Age of Glory (heaven and eternity). We read in John 1:17, “While the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” You and I find ourselves in the intermediate Age of Grace, where God’s Kingdom is present sacramentally (that’s the already) but not sensibly (that’s the not yet). When we die, however, we will pass from the Age of Grace to the Age of Glory, with a little detour through the Age of Purgatory.

Let me illustrate this tug-of-war tension of the already and the not yet with a little joke someone sent me last week. A minister, a priest and a rabbi were discussing when life begins. The minister said: “Those of my faith believe that life starts when the heart begins to beat.” The priest replied: “We take a bit of a different view in that we believe life starts at the moment of conception.” The rabbi answered: “Well, it is our belief that life starts when the kids move out and the dog dies.” (My apologies to all you dog lovers.). What a great question though: when does life begin? Does it begin in the Age of Grace, meaning when we are conceived and born into this world? Or, does it begin in the Age of Glory, meaning when we are born eternally into the world of heaven? The answer is life begins in both. We experience the Kingdom of God – real life – in “the already and the not yet,” both in the here but also in the here-after.

Our three scripture selections today likewise touch on this tension and tug-of-war between the already and the not yet, the already of grace and the not yet of glory. Isaiah the prophet writes in the first reading: “Lo, I will spread prosperity over Jerusalem like a river, and the wealth of the nations like an overflowing torrent.” Isaiah lived in the 8thcentury B.C. when Israel was subjugated by Assyria and then Babylon. But his prophesies would not be realized until the 6th century B.C., two hundred years later, when the people were freed. The prophets reminded the people of God’s promises that had not yet been realized. They heard the good news, but they had not seen it made manifest.

St. Paul writes to the Galatians, saying: “May I never boast except in in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” And what was that boast and cross? Paul explains a few verses later saying he had received the stigmata, the five wounds Jesus suffered on the cross. Paul saw in his sufferings the already and the not yet of the Kingdom, like a soldier boasts about his war wounds from a battle. And Jesus urges his apostles, who have just returned from an afternoon of rounding up evil spirits like Dan Aykroyd and Bill Murray in “Ghostbusters,” saying: “Do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice because your names are written in heaven.” That is, you have already seen the power of grace on earth, but don’t forget to long for the greater glory of heaven, which has not arrived.

Let me share three examples of this tension in our daily lives as Catholic Christians. We are called to live by grace but to long for glory. That is the quintessential characteristic of the Kingdom of God. Try to catch it. First, the Eucharist. Every time we come to Mass we are truly caught up into the eternal “marriage supper of the Lamb” described in Revelation 19:9, celebrated by all the saints and angels in heaven. If we closed our human eyes and opened our eyes of faith, that heavenly banquet is what we would behold already. And yet, we see only bread and wine, a priest and deacon and sleepy servers. That’s the not yet. Can you catch the kingdom there?

Secondly, holy matrimony. Every human marriage is supposed to foreshadow and be a foretaste of the eternal marriage between Jesus and his Bride, the Church. At every wedding rehearsal I tell the wedding party that all eyes should be on the bride, and the beautiful bride always blushes. But the reason we peer intently at the human bride is because she is a preview of coming attractions, the Bride of Ephesians 5:27, described as being “without spot or wrinkle or any such thing.” But all we see in most marriages is struggle and sacrifice and cold shoulders. Just ask the ex- spouses of the 250 annulments I work on every year. The wedding day feels like the “already” of glory, but the marriage feels more like the “not yet” of grace. Can you catch the Kingdom there?

And third, priestly celibacy. I know a lot of modern voices are growing more vocal to change the discipline of celibacy, and allow priests to marry. It’s true that discipline is a rule that could change. But I hope not. Why? Simple: celibate priests are another instance of “heaven on earth,” not because priests are perfect people, but because they are a preview of paradise. But don’t take my word for it, listen to Jesus in Matthew 19:12, where he talks about his future pastors: “They have renounced marriage for the sake of the kingdom of heaven.” Celibate priests and nuns and religious embody the “already” and the “not yet” of the Kingdom of God. Could you catch the Kingdom there?

When I celebrate a funeral Mass, I explain: “One of the seven petitions of the Our Father is ‘Thy Kingdom come.’ Well, the Kingdom has come in a very personal and powerful way for our beloved dead. We pray they stand before the King of kings today.” That is, for them the Kingdom of God is “the already” and no longer “the not yet.” They have moved from the Age of Grace to the Age of Glory. And now they know when real life begins.

Praised be Jesus Christ!