Bulletin Article/Homily Thoughts: E5-C

   During the "C" cycle of readings, each weekend Mass during the Easter season features a second reading from the book of Revelation.  It's regrettable how misunderstood this book is, for all of its imagery and imagination, its message, its warning, and its assurances.  As we read Revelation, we are reminded that it is dangerous to limit the "interpretive horizon" of scripture, that is, to understand and interpret Revelations as a message intended purely for the past or the future.  Revelations does not simply tell the story of the early Church persecutions, nor does it pertain exclusively to the "end of the world".  It is a message for our own day and age, which calls to mind the persecutions of the past and the trials the Church yet faces, all the while speaking to us directly in our current age.  That's a tall order for any piece of literature, but key to how any Catholic approaches scripture without falling into the excesses of academic literary criticism on one hand and fideistic literalism on the other.

   And so, during this Easter Season, why the focused interest in this final book of the Bible?  Our liturgy is modeled after this Heavenly Liturgy, giving us a foretaste and promise of what we shall become in the Kingdom.  What do the Easter Revelation readings tell us?

Second Sunday of Easter:  (Rev 1: 9-11a, 12-13, 17-19) John was brought up into heaven and told to write what he saw, where he observed a man in robe and sash who called himself the Alpha and Omega, the one once dead who lives forever and has power over life and death.  He was surrounded by seven gold lampstands.

Third Sunday of Easter:  (Rev. 5:11-14)  The heavenly concert of angels and other creatures proclaiming praise to the Lamb, with the four living creatures affirming the praise with an "Amen",

Fourth Sunday of Easter:  (Rev. 7:9, 14-17)  People of every nation, race, people, and tongue standing before the lamb wear white robes and carry palm branches following their testing and persecution; they are assured the shelter and protection of the Lamb.

Fifth Sunday of Easter:  (Rev. 21: 1-5a)  John sees and hears the coming forth of a new Jerusalem, accepted by the Lord as his bride and assured of his consolation and redemption following the passing of the old order.

Sixth Sunday of Easter:  (Rev. 21: 10-14, 22-23)  The angel shows John the glory of the heavenly city and its reliance not on the temple or even the light of the sun, but instead the glory of the Lamb.  [This reading will be pre-empted in many places by the observance of Ascension Thursday-Sunday in many places.]

 

There is a lot that could be said about these five readings, individually and collectively, but let's keep our discussion focused to why the Chruch presents these readings... together... and during the Easter season.  Here it is:

 

 

 

 

... and for the more Traditional types (you know who you are!):

 

What do we see in these images?

• The alter-Christus in the person of the priest (that guy in the robe and sash, in imitation I suppose of the man in robe and sash in the image of St. John) who makes present again the sacrifice of Calvary that the entire universe (and the priest) himself may adore mystery of the Lamb, revealed under the appearances of bread and wine.  (2nd Sunday)  I can't help but notice that there are six candles and the seventh, the light of the Eucharistic Lord is present as well. 
• The Lamb is slain, but lives again, demonstrating his ultimate power over life and death.  The Eucharist is a representation (re-present-ing) of the sacrifice of cross through the power of the risen Lord.  He is not simply a corpse laying on a slab of stone.  The Lamb once slain (body and blood separated, two separate consecrations) lives again.  (2nd Sunday)
• At the end of the great anaphora (Eucharistic Prayer), the priest, concluding the prayer, offers the Lamb, that "through him, and with him, and in him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit" all glory and honor may be given to the Father for all ages.  All join that proclamation of praise, the whole world (those in heaven, those at church, and all creation) replies "Amen!"  Indeed the four creatures, representing the four Gospels that reveal the Lord to us attest to what has just happened on the altar... it isn't just a Catholic thing we do when we go to Mass and witness the Eucharist, but all of Christian history and faith and tradition and hope for the future attests to it as well.  (3rd Sunday)
• All peoples are gathered into this celebration, welcomed without discrimation of any kind.  Wearing the white robes of baptism, they share in the sufferings of the cross through the sacrament and through the tribulations of their own lives.  I tried to include 'the people' in both of those images above... it is kind of hard to find good pictures which include 'the people', because so often the focus is on the Eucharist (and priest).  (4th Sunday)
• In doing this, the Lamb keeps the promise to be with us until the end of time (Matthew 28:20).  This is a covenant he offers to his people... true, steadfast, irrevocable... for 'better or worse, richer or poorer'... it transcends the powers of death, leading the sheep out of the valley of darkness into green pastures and near restful for repose (Ps 34).  (5th Sunday)
• All focus and attention is placed on the Lamb.  The Eucharist of the Lamb is the "source and summit" of the entire Christian life, because it is a real encounter with the Lord himself.  Those enlightened by the lamb no longer "go" to the temple, for they are living temples of the Holy Spirit, where the Lord dwells intimately in the soul of each person.  They need no lamp nor sun, for the Lord God dwells in them, giving enlightenment of body, mind, and soul.  (6th Sunday)

Is this not the entirety of the Easter mystery?  God the Father, who sent his Son to dwell with us, calls us out of darkeness into his own wonderful light (1 Peter 2:9), in a covenant stronger than death, which unites us as his flock, justifies us, and delivers us from the challenges of the age.

The best part?  We re-live that and anticipate its fulfillment in heaven every time we celebrate Mass.