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America’s Fifth Great Awakening

America’s Fifth Great Awakening

Last updated on: October 28, 2019 at 8:26 pm by Chase Padusniak

America’s Fifth Great Awakening 2019-10-28T20:26:10-04:00 Chase Padusniak

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So, perhaps, in this new awakening there is hope, hope in the way Weil imagines it, hope that our idolatry, our ties to liberal empire may become something new. Will it be better? I cannot say (and I certainly am not sanguine). But there is some desire for the transcendent active in us, a stirring for something greater, for a kingdom that is not, at least not overtly, of this world. Pope Francis has something to say about this yearning:

The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, is the crown of the liturgical year and this Holy Year of Mercy. The Gospel in fact presents the kingship of Jesus as the culmination of his saving work, and it does so in a surprising way. “The Christ of God, the Chosen One, the King” (Lk 23:35,37) appears without power or glory: he is on the cross, where he seems more to be conquered than conqueror. His kingship is paradoxical: his throne is the cross; his crown is made of thorns; he has no sceptre, but a reed is put into his hand; he does not have luxurious clothing, but is stripped of his tunic; he wears no shiny rings on his fingers, but his hands are pierced with nails; he has no treasure, but is sold for thirty pieces of silver.

Jesus’ reign is truly not of this world (cf. Jn 18:36); but for this reason, Saint Paul tells us in the Second Reading, we find redemption and forgiveness (cf. Col 1:13-14). For the grandeur of his kingdom is not power as defined by this world, but the love of God, a love capable of encountering and healing all things. Christ lowered himself to us out of this love, he lived our human misery, he suffered the lowest point of our human condition: injustice, betrayal, abandonment; he experienced death, the tomb, hell. And so our King went to the ends of the universe in order to embrace and save every living being. He did not condemn us, nor did he conquer us, and he never disregarded our freedom, but he paved the way with a humble love that forgives all things, hopes all things, sustains all things (cf. 1 Cor 13:7). This love alone overcame and continues to overcome our worst enemies: sin, death, fear. (“Homily at the Closure of the Jubilee Year of Mercy”)

Do I think that astrology portends the social kingship of Christ? No, not really. But I do not think it is a crime to hope, to maintain the promise of blessed fruit in an age many call barren.

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