5. The Eschaton's Spirit

eschaton [és-kuh-ton]:

the consummation of history at Christ’s Second Coming

when the Kingdom of God will be fully realized

in the reconciliation of all humanity with God

and the creation of a new heaven and earth

The Hebrew Scriptures teach that the Spirit of God hovered over the chaos at the beginning, enabling the very good creation.  It was the Spirit who spoke through the Prophets of Israel, as God intervened in history to draw humankind towards an ultimate reconciliation with and in God after the Original Sin.  

The power of the Spirit incarnates the Son in the womb of the Virgin Mary, empowering the Messianic ministry for the inauguration of the Kingdom of God with his death and resurrection.  The Spirit is sent to accompany the first fruits of redeemed humanity, the Church, on its pilgrimage toward the full realization of the Kingdom at the Second Coming of Jesus.  

This eschatological accompaniment of the Spirit is characterized by operations of:

• witness to God's transforming work in Christ, already in every age and fully at the End 
• protection of the Truth and the Truth-Sayers on the journey toward the Ultimate Reconciliation
• assurance of Apostolic leadership for the accomplishment of the mission until Christ's return
• empowerment for love in individual believers and in the Church as a whole to bring the Kingdom to fullness
• transfiguration of all created things toward a new heaven and a new earth at the Parousia. 

The Spirit hovers! comes! breathes! overflows! anoints! prophesies! Christifies! vivifies! prays! speaks! glorifies! recreates! births! tries! reminds! aids! promises! guards! overshadows! sends! adopts! animates! transforms! reveals! sanctifies! heals! testifies! infuses! consecrates! enables! ignites! blesses! exorcises! graces! purifies! fructifies! counsels! teaches! renews! saves! comforts! sanctifies! unifies! enlightens! gladdens! -- the Spirit at work as Bringer of the Blessed Eschaton!

Blessed be the Kingdom of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and forever!  

                                                                                                               (Opening of the Byzantine Liturgy)

4. Christ Eschaton

                                                                                            

eschaton [és-kuh-ton]:

the consummation of history at Christ’s Second Coming

when the Kingdom of God will be fully realized

in the reconciliation of all humanity with God

and the creation of a new heaven and earth

There are many depictions of Christ.  He can be a mosaicked Byzantine icon or the well-groomed face on a holy card.  He can be an image of heavenly Mercy or the Man of Sorrows.  He can appear as a face aglow with Mt. Tabor glory or the grayed face on a Holy Shroud. He can have the serene countenance of an Emmaus companion or the anguished look of a soul darkened with Gethsemane agony.  He can be a fiery Final Judge or an expressionless stone face atop a high mountain.  He can have the appearance of a tender-hearted Good Shepherd or a wearied itinerant rabbi.  He can look like a Sacred Heart or a Middle Eastern messiah.  

But what would the face of the Bringer of the Blessed Eschaton look like, the one who was present from the beginning and hidden in the heart of his Father until the appointed time? What are the looks of a fully human, fully divine person with striking resemblance to a Jewish Virgin Mother?  What does one see on the face of someone with prophetic ancestors, who has spent his days peering into the pain-filled eyes of human guilt and poverty?  How do the traces of trial and conviction and execution appear on a resurrected man’s face?  What countenance does an ascended Eternal Negotiator have while in constant intercession before the Father on behalf of an entire human race?  What is the look on someone's Mystical Body face, enduring the ups and downs of centuries on its way to the End?  What is the determined look of someone who is continuously coming  back from the End Times to close the gap with an unpredicted present age?  What is the look of success on the face of one who has completed a cosmic mission to reconcile all things in himself?  

The face-to-face encounter with a person brings with it signals for intimacy, interaction and collaboration.  When I look at the face of the Bringer of the Blessed Eschaton, what connection, what relationship, what inspiration is stirred in me?  In what spirit do I listen and speak?  How am I compelled to reorganize my thoughts and repurpose my activities?  In what new horizons do I begin to live and toward what new horizons do I walk?  What new companionship for life is mine and how does the one whose face I see change the trajectory of my journey?

It is the same, and far more significant, when all of us together take a communal look at him, the Christ, who is the Blessed Eschaton.