This is a theological concept and term that has to do with the study of
eschatology - the theology of the end times
Eschatological reversal simply means that the present situation will be
reversed in the end times [when the new heavens and the new earth is
created] - meaning those who have, will not have anymore, and those who
have not, will have
We can have an idea of what this eschatological reversal means through
certain passages in the Bible
The Magnificat of Mary gives a glimpse of this eschatological reversal:
"...He has pulled down princes from their thrones and exalted the lowly.
The hungry he has filled with good things, the rich sent empty away."
[Lk 1:52-53]
The Beatitudes also give us an idea of what eschatological reversal means:
"...Happy those who mourn:
they shall be comforted.
Happy those who hunger and thirst for what is right:
they shall be satisfied. [Mt 5:5-6]
The parable of the rich man and Lazarus also is a glimpse of the this
eschatological reversal:
"There was a rich man who used to dress in purple and fine linen and feast
magnificently every day. And at his gate there lay a poor man called Lazarus,
covered with sores, who longed to fill himself with the scraps that fell from
the rich man's table. Dogs even came and licked his sores. Now the poor man
died and was carried away by the angels to the bosom of Abraham. The rich
man also died and was buried. 'In his torment in Hades he looked up and saw
Abraham a long way off with Lazarus in his bosom..." [Lk 16:19-24]
There are many other texts and passages in the Scriptures that prefigure and
give us a glimpse of the eschatological reversal that will happen in the end
times. The basic message of this reality simply means that those who are now
in situations of poverty, suffering, and affliction, will in the end receive
the reward of a good life - something opposite to what they are presently
experiencing. And those who are now rich, eating magnificently like the rich
man, will in the end experience the opposite - suffering, torment and want.
On the level of spirituality, eschatological reversal is a consoling reality
for those who are presently in situations of difficulty and affliction. On the
the other hand, for those enjoying the good life now and are forgetting the
plight of the poor, it is a call to them to be more compassionate and to have
what the Church now terms as the 'preferential option for the poor' - to be
concerned and to make acts of solidarity with the poor.