We are accustomed to dividing up history into eras, into discrete chunks of time which exhibit certain characteristics which separate what went before from what came after. Jesus does something similar when he divides human history into a “before and after” with John the Baptist as the hinge. All the prophets and the law prophesied up to the time of John. The “after” is, of course, the time of the Christ. Most people living at a particular point in time don’t notice the shift. Only in retrospect can we see the differences. Pope Francis believes that history is about to swivel again. He says that we are not in an era of change but a change of eras. The era we know, let’s call it Christendom, is fading. The Catholicism we grew up with containing specific expectations and practices is falling by the wayside. It is not clear yet what this new era will look like. What is clear is that no matter what we must bring Christ’s love, peace, mercy and compassion into the new era.
