Building Back Which Kingdom?

Building Back Which Kingdom?

Preaching on the feast of Pentecost in 2012, His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI proceeded to compare our modern society with the account we read in the Old Testament, in Genesis chapter 11, of the inhabitants of Babel who thought that they could use their technological expertise to build a tower that would reach to Heaven, in order to open the gates of eternity and usurp the place of God. Suddenly they found that they were building against each other, they all began talking in strange tongues so that they could no longer comprehend each other, and the whole project ended in chaos and ruins. “While endeavouring to be like God,” explained Pope Benedict XVI, “they even risk no long being human because they have lost a fundamental element of being human – the ability to agree, to understand and to work together.”

     In the wake of the immeasurable suffering caused during the last year and a half by the disruption that has accompanied the Coronavirus contagion, there has been much talk of “building back better.” This might give us hope. The Christian life is all about “building back better”, because the Gospel is God's rescue plan for mankind enslaved to sin and mortality by the consequences of the Fall. Saved from spiritual death in Baptism and elevated to the life of Grace, it is our task as Christians to build the Kingdom of God on earth in the here and now, as well as looking forward to that perfect blessedness in Heaven that awaits those who depart this life in a state of grace. Conflict, injustice and every manner of suffering can all be traced to that primeval rebellion against God when our first parents disobeyed our Creator. As Christians we know that there can only be true peace and justice where Our Lord is recognized and honoured as Sovereign ruler in all aspects of human life and society. Alas, if we investigate some of those who talk most enthusiastically about “building back better”, we soon find that their vision for our future has little or no place for God, and that some of the solutions that are being offered are creepily reminiscent of ideologies that created so much misery, destruction and death in the last century. 

     Too often, the “philanthropists” who speak euphorically of the opportunities the Coronavirus crisis has created for building a brave new world turn out to be keen proponents of population control, abortion, among other wicked propositions. The biblical account of what happened in Babel should serve as a perennial reminder that when man determines to build back better on his own terms, without regard for the laws which God has written into human nature, and which He gave to Moses on Mount Sinai amid thunder and lightning, it is the Almighty Whose finger rests on the great reset button that has the power to reduce our most audacious plans to chaos.

     If “Build Back Better” is to be anything other than an empty and vacuous slogan or, even worse, a cover for something sinister, we cannot hope to succeed without the co-operation of the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity. During this time, let us pray for the assistance of the Holy Spirit, and for the infusion of His gifts into our hearts and the flourishing of His fruits within our lives, in order that we may play our part in building back better God's way.                                ~   Fr. Paul Dobson