Roaring Twenties

Finding the fullness of time all the time

01/01/2020

Luke 2:16-21 The shepherds went in haste to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known the message that had been told them about this child. All who heard it were amazed by what had been told them by the shepherds. And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart. Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told to them. When eight days were completed for his circumcision, he was named Jesus, the name given him by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

Every generation tends to think it enjoyed the Golden Age of humanity. We all believe life was better when we were young, much better than it was before us or will be after us, because it’s all going you-know-where in a handbasket. “Ah, the good old days!” we pine, as we look down our noses at other generations. I was visiting a family for dinner recently and found myself boasting that 1980’s rock and roll was the best rock-n-roll of all time. The 14 year-old daughter shook her head in disagreement, and asked, “Then why are they just screaming all the time?” And suddenly it hit me that many rock bands in the 80’s did in fact scream a lot. But 80’s rock is still the best. If you grew up in the 70’s you probably think that era was the Golden Age of rock, and likewise those who came of age in the 90’s believe their music was the “Age of Aquarius.” And so on and so forth.

Every age, however, is closer to Charles Dicken’s unforgettable opening lines of his classic A Tale of Two Cities, which begins: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.” In other words, every age has highs and lows, good and bad, saints and sinners. It takes a big dose of honest to admit that, and even more humility to accept that.

There was one age, however, that towers over all the others like a true Golden Age, indeed, it was the “fullness of time.” That is, it was the miraculous moment when God sent his Son to be born in Bethlehem, when God became a Baby. We read in St. Paul’s letter to the Galatians: “When the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to ransom those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” Now, many Jews of the first century would dispute Paul’s claim that age should be called Golden, like my 14 year-old friend disagreed about the 1980’s rock being the best. After all, Judea was under Roman occupation; remember Pontius Pilate who served at the pleasure of Cesar? Furthermore, in 70 A.D. Jerusalem and the Temple were completely destroyed and over 1 million Jews slaughtered, according to the Jewish historian Josephus. And yet, those with the eyes of faith, like St. Paul, saw below the surface and glimpsed the glowing grace and saw that moment as the “fullness of time.”

In today’s gospel of Luke 2, we read about someone else who saw the hidden grace and the fullness of time in that marvelous moment, namely, Mary. Luke records: “Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.” What mother does not always see below the surface of her children’s lives and see the “golden age” no matter how much her children may be struggling or suffering? In other words, while every epoch has highs and lows, tribulations and triumphs, the birth of the Messiah was the high watermark of all history, the Golden Age of Grace. Why? Well, everything that came before led up to it and all that transpires after is profoundly changed by it. Indeed, we even mark the years as “B.C.” meaning “Before Christ,” or “A.D.” meaning “Anno Domini,” Latin for “in the year of our Lord.” (AD does not mean "After Death.") The birth of Christ marked the fullness of time because that was the moment the fullness of grace invaded our weary world – residing principally in Jesus and Mary – even though on the surface, history hobbled along as the best of times and the worst of times.

My friends, today we stand on the doorstep not only of a new year, but also of a new decade, we start the Roaring Twenties! How do you feel about that? As we glance backward, our eyes sweep not only one year in review but 10 years. Can you not easily pick out the best of times and the worst of times, the wisdom and the foolishness, the belief and the incredulity, the light and the darkness, the hope and the despair that have punctuated the last year and the last decade? Personally, one highlight for me was turning 50 years old last year, and one lowlight was the Razorback football season. Would it much of a stretch to say this coming year and even the coming decade will hold more of the same? I don’t think that’s a stretch, that’s virtually a guarantee.

Instead of skimming the surface, however, let me invite you to peer below the externals into the depths with the eyes of faith, where grace and goodness often lie hidden. And because Jesus came 2,020 years ago, in that original “fullness of time,” he has planted the seeds of the “fullness of grace” that blossom in every epoch and in every era. Jesus’ birth has made every time the fullness of time. How so? That fullness of grace is available to us in the sacraments and in the scriptures. Like Mary, we have to keep all these things, and reflect on them in our hearts. That is, we must contemplate the signs of the times in the light of faith, and see how the fullness of time exists in every age.

It is with this “spring of hope” that I want to wish each of you a Happy New Year and a Happy New Decade! It is indeed the best of times and the worst of times, but thanks to the birth of Christ, it is also the fullness of times.

Praised be Jesus Christ!