Swiss Reformed theologian Karl Barth once famously stated that
preachers of God's word ought to preach with the Bible in one hand & the
newspaper in the other. Good advice,
isn’t it? Barth understood the relationship between the word of God and
the word of the day, that they are intrinsically bound together in such a way
that one always interprets the other. Today's Gospel from Luke addresses how some in Jesus' day could
interpret the weather from the clouds and the appearance of the earth, but they
weren’t able to discern the signs that Jesus put before their eyes in his
proclamation of God's kingdom. And isn't it even more true today? We’re so technologically
advanced, we pride ourselves in all the scientific advances we have made as a
society, yet we often miss the message that God is trying to convey to us. “The signs of the times”
was an important message of the Second Vatican Council, as it called us to
interpret God's Word through the signs of our modern era, yet to also be true
to the original message of Jesus & the message preached by the early Church
fathers. We have a lot of issues we are facing as a society, which are
all the more difficult due to the very splintered political climate we live
in. It is important to take these matters to prayer, to see through
the lens of our faith, and to reflect upon our Catholic teachings. May we pray to the Lord
today that we are able to authentically interpret his word through the signs of
our times, while still being true to the truth and wisdom that speak to us
through God's holy Word across time and history
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