Today is Nov. 19, Tuesday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time.
In the final weeks of Ordinary Time, the Catholic Church reads from the Book of Revelation to encourage reflection on the end times, the final judgment, and the fulfillment of God’s promises. As the liturgical year comes to a close, these readings draw our attention to the ultimate purpose of Christian life: union with God in his eternal kingdom. They are meant to prepare us spiritually for the coming of Advent, when the Church anticipates Christ’s birth and his return in glory at the end of time.
As Christians, we understand the “last day” not as an endless march toward human-made utopia, but as the culmination of God’s promise, when he will bring all creation into the fullness of his kingdom. This vision stands in stark contrast to the “myth of progress” — the secular belief that humanity can, through technology, innovation and self-direction, create paradise on earth. The myth of progress promises an ever-improving world through human effort alone, yet it often leads us further from God, entrapping us in a cycle of consumption, environmental depletion and, ultimately, spiritual desolation.
The writer Paul Kingsnorth warns: “One of the dangerous things about the story of progress is that we don’t think it’s a story. We think it’s the truth. We think it’s real, rather than that it’s simply an interpretation of the world which we have chosen to believe.” The myth of progress tells us that we can perfect the world on our own, leading us to idolize technology, economic growth, and individual autonomy. But in doing so, we lose sight of the sacred, forgetting that all creation is interconnected and ultimately directed toward union with God.
The Book of Revelation offers vivid imagery of cosmic events, the triumph of good over evil, and the final, glorious reign of Christ. These themes remind us that history is moving toward a definitive conclusion — God’s ultimate victory and the establishment of a new heaven and earth. This is not progress as the world envisions it — where humanity, separate from its Creator, builds an ideal world. Rather, it is the return to wholeness, a restoration of the deep relationship between God, humanity and all of creation.
Christians are called to live with a different story: a vision of the end not as human achievement but as divine grace, a homecoming to God. In light of the last day, we are called to humility, to recognize that our purpose is not to create our own paradise but to prepare our hearts for the coming of God’s kingdom.
Prayer for today:
Grant us, we pray, O Lord our God, the constant gladness of being devoted to you, for it is full and lasting happiness to serve with constancy the author of all that is good. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
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