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.
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