"With his Cross [Christ] has uncovered the lost centre of the
world’s circle,
thus giving their true dimensions and meaning to the movement
both of
individual lives and of human history as a whole."
Joseph Ratzinger
"Humanity will prefer to renounce all philosophical questions –
in Marxism,
or positivism of all stripes – rather than accept a philosophy
which finds its
final response only in the revelation of Christ. Foreseeing
that, Christ sent
his believers into the whole world as sheep among wolves.
" Hans Urs von Balthasar
“When you see a cloud rising in the west you
say immediately that it is going to
rain – and so it does; and when
you notice that the wind is blowing from the
south you say that it is going
to be hot – and so it is. You hypocrites! You know
how to interpret the appearance
of the earth and sky; why do you not know how
to interpret the present time?” Luke 12:54-56
Jesus was
addressing those who were unable to recognize what was happening in their
midst. His
audience, clever materialists like ourselves, were alert to those things that
might bear
upon their comfort, convenience, or economic wellbeing. The event Jesus’
contemporaries
were unable to recognize was precisely himself. What they could not see
was how the
human condition was being radically altered by the nature of the man who
was standing
in their midst, and by what he was about to accomplish. Inasmuch as the
world
altered by this accomplishment would forever be reluctant to recognize it,
Jesus’
admonishment
continues to fall on us.