There are some things in every one of our lives that seem absolutely permanent and entirely indestructible. For most children, their parents have that feeling and, for many, so does their home, their school, and their church. For most of us adults, there’s a similar sense of timelessness and permanence to edifices like the Washington Monument and the US capitol, even when we’re angry with Congress.
That same feeling of permanence was even more true of the thoughts and emotions that faithful Jews experienced when they visited the great Temple in Jerusalem. If anything would last, the Temple would, they thought. But in today’s Gospel, Jesus told them otherwise. It would all disappear, and sooner than they might think. And indeed it did.
There’s a tendency in us all to put our faith in things we can see and touch, and that’s a great mistake, as Jesus reminds us. Eventually, everything that we can see and touch, including our very bodies, will pass away. And what will we be left with then? Nothing but the hearts that we have formed and shaped in a lifetime of thinking, choosing and acting — for good or ill. Nothing but our hearts and the good Lord who has been waiting to greet us face to face.
When that great moment comes, there will be only one question that counts: Have we grown into God’s likeness and have we learned to see as He sees, to think as He thinks, and to love as He loves? If we have, we’ll have a thrilling eternity ahead of us in the bosom of God and of God’s big family. If we have not, our destiny is to live alone forever within sight of the wonderful family that can never be ours.
Whichever it’s going to be, you’re making part of your choice this very day.