His Holiness Pope Francis turned his thoughts at Mass to the end of the world. He took his cue from the readings of the day from the Book of Revelations, which describes the destruction of Babylon, a symbol of worldliness, and from the Gospel of Luke (21:20-28), in which Jesus tells of the devastation of Jerusalem, the holy city.
As reported by Vatican news, His Holiness Pope Francis said that corruption will be revealed under her magnificent beauty and that her feasts will be exposed as false happiness. The Pontiff remarked that “The melodies of musicians, harpists, flutists, and trumpeters will never be heard in you again. There will be no more beautiful feasts, craftsmen of every type will never be found in you again; because you are not a city of work but of corruption. The sound of the millstone will not be heard in you again; no lamplight will be seen in you again. The city may be illuminated, but she will be without light, not luminous. Hers is a corrupt society – the voices of brides and grooms will never be heard in you again. There were many couples, many people, but there will no longer be any love. This destruction starts from within and ends when the Lord says: ‘Enough’. And there will come a day when the Lord says: ‘Enough with the appearances of this world.’ This is the crisis of a society that sees itself as proud, self-sufficient, dictatorial, and it ends in this manner.”
Finally, His Holiness Pope Francis invited us to think about the Babylonians of our time and about the many powerful empires of the last century which have fallen.
