Fulfilling Prophecy

THE fulfillment of God’s Covenant with His people, which will be fully realized in the Wedding Feast of the Lamb, has progressed throughout millennia like a spiral that becomes smaller and smaller as time goes on. In the Psalm today, David sings:

The LORD has made his salvation known: in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice.

And yet, the revelation of Jesus was still hundreds of years away. So how could the salvation of the Lord be known? It was known, or rather anticipated, through prophecy…

…things into which angels longed to look. (First reading)

So, when Christ was born, then suffered, died, and rose from the dead, at last His salvation was made known to the world, right? As St. Peter wrote in his first letter:

Therefore, gird up the loins of your mind, live soberly, and set your hopes completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. (First reading)

However, Peter and the early Church came to realize that the mysterious plan of the Father, “to sum up all things in Christ, in heaven and on earth“, ^[1]cf. Eph 1:10 had yet to spiral through future generations.

…with the Lord one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like one day. The Lord does not delay his promise, as some regard “delay,”… (2 Pt 3:8-9)

What remained was for the Church to become prepared like a Bride to fulfill her part of the Covenant, made possible through Christ. She will do so…

…when she will follow her Lord in his death and Resurrection. —Catechism of the Catholic Church, n.677

But the Apostles did not understand this at first. “We have given up everything and followed you,” said Peter in the Gospel. But Jesus says, no, more is required in order for the plan of salvation to be fulfilled: you must go and make disciples of all the nations. And when you do, you will want for nothing. The families you leave behind, for My sake, will be given to you a hundred times over in the new brothers and sisters whom you will baptize. Their homes will become Christian homes; their lands will become Christian nations; their mothers will care for you as their children become your spiritual children. But so that you do not mistake my Kingdom for an earthly one, all this will come to you through persecutions… but you will be rewarded when this family of nations gathers for the Wedding Day of the Lamb…

As the prophecies of ancient Scripture spiral through our time, seemingly faster and faster, we too might be tempted to think that the full “revelation of Jesus Christ” will occur in our generation. In that regard, I wish to invite every one of my readers to set aside 15 minutes, and prayerfully read or re-read my open letter to Pope Francis: Dear Holy Father… He is Coming? For the Wedding Day is nearer than many think, but also, not what many think it is…

Prophecy has changed immensely throughout history, especially with regard to its status within the institutional Church, but prophecy has never ceased. — Niels Christian Hvidt, theologian, Christian Prophecy, p. 36, Oxford University Press

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