Please remember, as I write, that I am new to this book. I will probably leave out a lot of important information. Please don't yell and scream at me if there's more I could have said. I'm sure there is more that I could have said. Entire books, much longer than the actual Book of Revelation, have been published on the Book of Revelation. My purpose is not to open up every minute detail of this work. My purpose is to help you (and me) to begin to read, remember, and appreciate it.
It's amazing how familiar I already am with this book. It seems that a lot of the Mass comes from this book. Does that mean what I think it means? That when John was given this Revelation, that he was really just seeing the Mass? Someone told me that before, but because I hadn't read the book, I didn't know it was true! Sure enough, it is!
How do we know? Well, let's look just at this first chapter! I mean, where do you see a priest on Sunday (the Lord's Day), with readings of scripture, and explanation of those readings, and prayers, and choirs of angels and Saints praying along, with the sacrifice of the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, and blessings? Mass, you say? Funny, I was going to say the Book of Revelation.
This book begins with John saying that he was sent to Patmos essentially because he had been evangelizing too much. Banishment to remote islands such as Patmos would be a clear way to solve the problem of evangelization, you'd think. Unless, of course, the God who that person is preaching about is real. Then there's pretty much nothing you can do to stop it. After all, they sent John to Patmos to shut him up. What they didn't expect was that John would be given a Revelation from God, which he would write down, send around the world, and that work would later be included in the Canon of Scripture, which would help to evangelize the world for at least 2,000 more years! And, we know that it'll continue on for much longer, still! So much for shutting him up! The Mass the we celebrate, some of the prayers we are most familiar with, are all a result of the work that was done while John was "being prevented" from preaching. Try to stop God. I dare you. This is what happens when you do!
He is taken up into heaven and is told to write down all that he sees, send it to the seven churches in Asia. When John turns to see who is talking to him, he sees Jesus, looking unique, standing among seven lampstands, and holding seven stars in his right hand. He falls down on his face, as if dead, but Jesus tells him that He will explain it all to John. He says that the seven lampstands are the seven churches in Asia, and the seven stars are the angels who are to protect those Churches. I think that it's kind of cool that each church has its own angel. It's kind of a comforting thought.
What does this have to do with the Mass?
It begins with the dealing of these scrolls, where the word of God is being read aloud to communities. This, of course, is mirrored directly in the Mass. Jesus explains the meaning of these things, similarly to the way the priest does in his homily.
"Lift up your hearts."
"We lift them up to the Lord."
Have you ever wondered, where we are lifting our hearts to when, at Mass, we respond to the priests request that we "lift up your hearts," and we respond, "We lift them up to the Lord?" The Book of Revelation has your answer. You are lifting your heart to Heaven. You are literally exiting the Earth we live on, and entering Heaven. So next time you are at Mass, and the priest says, "Lift up your hearts," and you respond, "We lift them up to the Lord," remember that you are doing exactly what John does in this very chapter. He was "caught up in spirit," just as we are at that moment, when we lift our hearts from the Earth, to Heaven. It reminds me of Saint Cyril of Alexandria's catechetical lectures, when he says, "The priest cries out: 'Lift up your hearts!' For in this most solemn hour it is necessary for us to have our hearts raised up with God, and not be fixed below, on the earth and earthly things. It is as if the priest instructs us at this hour to dismiss all physical cares and domestic anxieties, and to have our hearts in heaven with the benevolent God. Then you answer: 'We have lifted them up to the Lord,' giving assent to it by the acknowledgment that you make. Let no one come here, then, who could say with his mouth, 'We have lifted them up to the Lord,' while he is preoccupied with physical cares." - Catechetical Lectures 848d, Saint Cyril of Alexandria, A.D. 350.
I fell down, as though dead
John sees Jesus, looking quite scary if I do say so myself, and fell at His feet as though dead. Now, if I saw Him with flaming eyes, a tongue like a sword, etc, I'd probably fall down, actually dead! At Mass, we get to encounter Jesus, too. Though He comes to us in humble bread and wine, I can't help but notice that we approach with such little reverence. Ok, who is the "we" that I am talking about? It's people like me. I know that I don't fully honor what is going on. You'd never know that someone of great importance was present by the behavior of people like myself. But it is my hope that these reflections on this book will help me do better.
Book of Revelation
Chapter 1
The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to him, to show his servants what must happen soon. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who gives witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ by reporting what he says. Blessed is the one who reads aloud and blessed are those who listen to this prophetic message and heed what is written in it, for the appointed time is near. John, to the seven churches in Asia: grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead and ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, who has made us into a kingdom, priests for his God and Father, to him be glory and power forever (and ever). Amen.
Behold, he is coming amid the clouds,
And every eye will see him,
Even those who pierced him.
All the peoples of the earth will lament him.
Yes. Amen.
"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "The one who is and who was and who is to come, the almighty."
I, John, your brother, who share with you the distress, the kingdom, and the endurance we have in Jesus, found myself on the island called Patmos, because I proclaimed God's word and gave testimony to Jesus. I was caught up in spirit on the Lord's day and heard behind me a voice as loud as a trumpet, which said, "Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. Then I turned to see whose voice it was that spoke to me, and when I turned, I saw seven gold lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, wearing an ankle-length robe, with a gold sash around his chest. The hair of his head was as white as white wool or as snow, and his eyes were like a fiery flame. His feet were like polished brass refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing water. In his right hand he held seven stars. A sharp two-edged sword came out of his mouth, and his face shone like the sun at its brightest.
When I caught sight of him, I fell down at his feet as though dead. He touched me with his right hand and said, "Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last, the one who lives. Once I was dead, but now I am alive forever and ever. I hold the keys to death and the netherworld. Write down, therefore, what you have seen, and what is happening, and what will happen afterwards. This is the secret meaning of the seven stars you saw in my right hand, and of the seven gold lampstands: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
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