Lesson from Fr. Paulus | The Christian View of History

Jesus' first words in Mark's Gospel are mysterious. He tells us: "This is the time of fulfillment." What does this mean? It means that when Jesus Christ came onto the scene, it was a turning point in the history of the world. This is because Jesus ushers in the third age of human history.

The first age was the era of creation. During this period, mankind lived in the fullness of communion with God.

It was when Adam and Eve lived in paradise and in unspoiled friendship with God. This ended with original sin and the subsequent fall from grace: evil entered the world.

Then the second age began, the age of the Promise. God promised Adam and Eve that he would send a Savior to free the human family from domination by the devil (Cf. Genesis 3:15).

In this second age God gradually prepared the world, through the education of his chosen people, Israel, for the arrival of Jesus Christ.

With him, the third age began, the "time of fulfillment," fulfillment of the promise of salvation. In this age, the Christian age, God actually entered into time and space in order to rescue it from sin and destruction.

He did so at first through the Incarnation, and he continues to do so through the activity of the Church, which is gradually expanding into every corner of the globe. At the end of this third age, Christ will come again, ushering in the fourth and final age, the age of glory, when evil, death, and sorrow will be banished from his Kingdom forever.

If we see things from the perspective of these four stages of history, it fills us with wisdom, interior peace, and a sense of purpose, because things make sense. But do we look at things this way?

Renewing Our Friendship with Christ (linked to Gospel)

The most exciting aspect of the Christian view of history is that Christ is constantly inviting us to take part in it.

What happened in today's Gospel passage happens to each one of us throughout our lives. Peter, Andrew, James, and John were all living their normal lives, working to keep food on the table.

By all external signs, they were indistinguishable from any of their contemporaries. But then one day Jesus Christ walked into their midst and called them each by name.

Jesus didn't see them as average people, generic fishermen. Jesus saw each one in the revealing light of God's love. He knew that he had created them for an active role in his plan to redeem the human race and conquer the forces of sin and evil.

And just as he invited each one of them to join his team and share his mission, so he does with us. Some of us he calls to leave behind our nets, boats, and even our families, so that we can serve the Church full time, as special agents, as priests, religious, and missionaries.

Others he calls to be his ambassadors in the middle of our normal family and work life, redeeming the world from within, like leaven in the dough. But either way, he calls each one of us.

Today he will renew his call when he offers himself to us in the Eucharist.

By reminding us today of the true course of human history, he has motivated us to renew our response to that call in our hearts, to let our friendship with him truly become the most important thing for us, more important than our plans, pleasures, hopes, and comfort, because all those things are just part of the "world in its present form," which is "passing away."