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Hope for Future Generations

Ordinary Time (Second Section)Sustainable Development and Global Goals Week 42 · Day 7

Scripture References

Read First

Old Testament

Isaiah 65:17-25

¹⁷ “For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things will not be remembered, nor come into mind.
¹⁸ But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for, behold, I create Jerusalem to be a delight, and her people a joy.
¹⁹ I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and delight in my people; and the voice of weeping and the voice of crying will be heard in her no more.

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²⁰ “No more will there be an infant who only lives a few days, nor an old man who has not filled his days; for the child will die one hundred years old, and the sinner being one hundred years old will be accursed.
²¹ They will build houses and inhabit them. They will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
²² They will not build and another inhabit. They will not plant and another eat; for the days of my people will be like the days of a tree, and my chosen will long enjoy the work of their hands.
²³ They will not labour in vain nor give birth for calamity; for they are the offspring of the LORD’s blessed and their descendants with them.
²⁴ It will happen that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.
²⁵ The wolf and the lamb will feed together. The lion will eat straw like the ox. Dust will be the serpent’s food. They will not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain,” says the LORD.

New Testament

Revelation 21:1-7

¹ I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth have passed away, and the sea is no more.
² I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband.
³ I heard a loud voice out of heaven saying, “Behold, God’s dwelling is with people; and he will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.

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⁴ He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; neither will there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain any more. The first things have passed away.”
⁵ He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” He said, “Write, for these words of God are faithful and true.”
⁶ He said to me, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give freely to him who is thirsty from the spring of the water of life.
⁷ He who overcomes, I will give him these things. I will be his God, and he will be my son.

Thought for the Day

Isaiah dares to speak of a world remade: new heavens and a new earth, so different that the former troubles will not dominate memory. It is a vision of daily life healed, not merely of souls rescued. It imagines joy where there was grief, security where there was danger, homes that are inhabited, labour that is not stolen, children not born for calamity.

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Revelation picks up the same promise and makes it personal. The new creation is not just improved conditions; it is God dwelling with his people, wiping tears with his own hand. John calls it kainos: new not only in time, but in quality, fresh and unspoiled. Even the sea, that old symbol of chaos and threat, is gone.

This hope does not excuse us from caring for the world as it is. It steadies us for long work. Future generations will not be saved by our panic, nor by our cynicism, but by faithful labour carried on under a larger promise.

Lord, teach us to plant trees we may not sit under, to build systems we may not benefit from, and to pray with a patience that outlasts headlines. Keep us from despair. Make us people of quiet hope, doing small righteous things in the light of your coming kingdom.

Prayer Points

Respond

Give those shaping long-term decisions courage to resist short-term selfishness and to pursue the good of children.
Comfort communities living with grief, displacement, or fear about the future; give real signs of hope.
Strengthen the Church to live patiently and truthfully, without despair or denial.

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Teach us to practise faithfulness in small choices that bless others beyond our lifetime.
Hasten your renewal, and keep our hearts anchored in your promise: you will make all things new.

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