The Good News Has been delayed! When Will It Arrive?

Christ was sent into this world to bring good news. This was his major work. But do they teach this thing in his name? He wanted to change slavery into freedom. Is this taught in his name? Were they fulfilled, the things he wanted to fulfill? Did the poor hear the good news? Have broken hearts been cured? Can the blind people see? Have all the shackles taken from prisoners? Are the inmates free? No.

Christ is still on the cross, waiting for his apostles. They should come as soon as possible, because the suffering is terrible, and his eyes are tired of looking to the [East], and waiting for the sunrise of the time of the [Lord.]

Fr. Robert de La Mennais Cited in Calendar of Wisdom

From Wikipedia: Félicité Robert de La Mennais (or Lamennais; 19 June 1782 – 27 February 1854), was a French Catholic priest, philosopher, and political theorist. He was one of the most influential intellectuals of Restoration France. Lamennais is considered the forerunner of liberal Catholicism and social Catholicism. 

I am sure he was popular with the Bishops in Rome! This is a historical indictment, far from the only one, that lays out the basic dissonance or the blatant hypocrisy between what is preached and what is practiced; What is taught, and what is expected; What is demanded of those who identify with a religious tradition, and what is the lowest bar of membership and practice that is accepted and condoned!

Briefly siding with Fr. La Mennais, we can ask: When will the “Day of The Lord” arrive? 

Has that day already  “been thrown under the bus” of capitalism and self-interest? Can we can continue to preach an expectation of our deliverance, and the anticipation of a world that Jesus would recognize as the fulfillment of his teachings? I truly and earnestly wonder if it is within the reach of human comprehension! 

I am not convinced that institutions like the church, the government, and our economic systems will ever be proactive, introspective, or have the courage to be open to change. It’s not in the organizational DNA of a church to risk change, when it depends so completely on maintaining its status quo.

I think it was JFK who said : “[If you do not make evolution possible, then you make revolution inevitable!]” Given the deep dysfunctions of our society, and the unwillingness to risk deep and transformative change of self and society, precious little will change! Not until people choose to walk away from institutional church life as it has been lamely taught and hypocritically practiced. 

There would have to be a wholesale and a heartfelt dedication that would be necessary to begin to reconstruct our culture based on the ideals of Isaiah and the example of Jesus; What they taught about life, your world, government, and your neighbor.

Only in that way, as I see it, will religion be truly and honestly defined by our lived out values, by our active and cooperative unbiased compassion, and by our responsible use and sharing of planetary resources.