The Constancy of God: Weekly Message for 01-09-2024

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8)

Dear Friends,

“What, exactly, does Jesus mean when he says I make all things new?” It was an excellent question. I often suggest people read Revelation 21:5, since Christ’s assertion “Behold, I make all things new” invariably offers hope, peace, and courage. But, until now, no one had ever asked me to explain it.

As we’re a month or so into a new liturgical year, and a few days into a new calendar year, perhaps it’s a good time to take up the question: What, precisely, is the newness that Christ promises?

Fundamentally, of course, Christ has already made all things new by his suffering, death, and resurrection. He defeated sin and death, restored our relationship with God, and offered us the possibility of eternal life. He nourishes that relationship in the sacraments.

And this has consequences in our everyday life.

The Evil One is essentially meretricious. In fact, Satan in Paradise Lost expresses evil’s inconstancy quite well as he rants: “The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven…”

God, on the other hand, is constant. He does not require incessant novelty, but enables us to see reality with renewed vision, with his own vision. We await a new heaven and a new earth, where every tear will be wiped away and death shall be no more (Revelation 21:1-4); at the same time, Christ makes all things new today.

Jesus Christ enables us to see and love the ordinary with his own eyes, day in and day out. He need not change the circumstances: he changes us instead. Satan lures us into either neglecting or despairing of what’s right in front of us; Christ calls us to love right here, right now, in reality according to the mind of God. Every moment bears God’s presence; every struggle has meaning in his eyes; with him, nothing is wasted.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. And as he enables us to see as he sees, to judge as he judges, and to act as he acts, he continues to make all things new.

God bless,

Fr. John Pietropaoli, LC
Two Priests and a Mic podcaster