The city of Rome and many places in Italy are replete with the ruins of ancient Latin civilization.  Though I have not been in Rome, I have seen a section of the old Roman wall of London, a Mithraic temple in the same city,  and a redoubt built by Roman soldiers in Cambridge.  In Caesarea Maritima I saw both the aqueduct and the old theater.  I’ve also seen the outline of a Roman camp from the heights of Herod’s Masada.  These are vestiges of a civilization long gone, yet remembered.

The Roman civilization that persecuted Christians is gone; Christianity is not.  Thus, what I saw was evidence of the temporality of civilizations and the durability of Christian faith.  Human civilizations come and go.  Christian faith continues through the ages.  Such lasting power is a testament to the trustworthiness of God’s promises.  “. . . you are Peter and on this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16: 18 ESV)  We will not see the ruins of the catholic faith that would testify to its ephemeral nature.  Christianity remains until the end of time.

The lasting power of human civilization can not compete with the unending might of God and His work.  God will bring the human drama to an end and fulfill all of history with the coming of the kingdom of God.

We who defend the faith are part of a drama that spans history right to the end.  We represent those who believe that God intends to bring  fulfillment to humanity.  We and our endeavors are not all “sound and fury, signifying nothing” as Macbeth states in Shakespeare.  Defense and witness are full of meaning that can not be undone.

 

Michael G. Tavella

September 29, 2024

Saint Michael and All Angels