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| “Adoration of the Lamb” (detail) by Jan van Eyck, 1425-29 |
Reading 1: Revelation
5:1-10
I, John, saw a scroll in the
right hand of the one who sat on the throne.
It had writing on both sides
and was sealed with seven seals.
Then I saw a mighty angel who
proclaimed in a loud voice,
“Who is worthy to open the
scroll and break its seals?”
But no one in heaven or on
earth or under the earth
was able to open the scroll
or to examine it.
I shed many tears because no
one was found worthy
to open the scroll or to
examine it.
One of the elders said to me,
“Do not weep.
The lion of the tribe of Judah
enabling him to open the
scroll with its seven seals.”
Then I saw standing in the
midst of the throne
and the four living creatures
and the elders
a Lamb that seemed to have
been slain.
He had seven horns and seven
eyes;
these are the seven spirits
of God sent out into the whole world.
He came and received the
scroll from the right hand
of the one who sat on the
throne.
When he took it,
the four living creatures and
the twenty-four elders
fell down before the Lamb.
Each of the elders held a
harp and gold bowls filled with incense,
which are the prayers of the
holy ones.
They sang a new hymn:
“Worthy are you to receive
the scroll
and break open its seals,
for you were slain and with
your Blood you purchased for God
those from every tribe and
tongue, people and nation.
You made them a kingdom and
priests for our God,
and they will reign on
earth.”
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Commentary on Rv
5:1-10
The seer (John)
now describes a papyrus roll in God's right hand with seven seals indicating
the importance of the message. A mighty angel asks who is worthy to open the
scroll; who can accomplish God's salvific plan. There is despair at first when
no one in creation can do it. But the
seer is comforted by an elder who tells him that Christ (“The lion of the tribe of Judah
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm
149:1b-2, 3-4, 5-6a and 9b
R. (Rev. 5:10) The Lamb has made us a kingdom of
priests to serve our God.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Sing to the LORD a new song
of praise in the assembly of
the faithful.
Let Israel
let the children of Zion
R. The Lamb has made us a kingdom of priests to serve
our God.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Let them praise his name in
the festive dance,
let them sing praise to him
with timbrel and harp.
For the LORD loves his
people,
and he adorns the lowly with
victory.
R. The Lamb has made us a kingdom of priests to serve
our God.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Let the faithful exult in
glory;
let them sing for joy upon
their couches;
Let the high praises of God
be in their throats.
This is the glory of all his
faithful. Alleluia.
R. The Lamb has made us a kingdom of priests to serve
our God.
or:
R. Alleluia.
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Commentary on Ps
149:1b-2, 3-4, 5-6a and 9b
Psalm 149 is a communal song
of praise. This passage rejoices in God’s kingship and invites the faithful to
celebrate his saving works. We rejoice because God brings victory to the lowly
and hope to the oppressed.
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Gospel: Luke
19:41-44
As Jesus drew near Jerusalem
he saw the city and wept over
it, saying,
“If this day you only knew
what makes for peace–
but now it is hidden from
your eyes.
For the days are coming upon
you
when your enemies will raise
a palisade against you;
they will encircle you and
hem you in on all sides.
They will smash you to the
ground and your children within you,
and they will not leave one
stone upon another within you
because you did not recognize
the time of your visitation.”
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Commentary on Lk
19:41-44
This lament for Jerusalem Jerusalem Jerusalem
“Mystically: (St. Gregory the Great, Hom.
In Evan. 39) Christ continues to weep for sinners who, like Jerusalem
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Homily:
We challenge ourselves today
to find a way at once to be faithful to John
14:6 “I am the
way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” and at the same time understand that all of God’s
creation are offered adoption into God’s family (Ephesians
3:6) “…the
Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body, and copartners in the promise
in Christ Jesus through the gospel.”
John’s vision in Revelations
(Apocalypse) clearly points to Christ’s primacy in heaven. He alone in God’s heavenly kingdom is worthy
to open the scroll that is the Father’s saving plan. The lamb who was slain alone is able to bring
about salvation. That clearly points to
only Christ can bring a person to eternal life.
We then look at St. Luke’s
Gospel and are told that the Lord looked on Jerusalem and saw the unbelief of
the people (“If this day you only
knew what makes for peace–but now it is hidden from your eyes.”). He weeps
for them because he sees their spiritual death – their complete destruction as
a consequence of their failure to grasp the revelation that God has sent. Here too we seem to find that Christ alone
holds salvation. He alone is the way,
the truth, and the life.
What then of our brothers and
sisters who have rejected him? What
about all of the good people in the world who have not chosen to follow Christ
– the Hindus like Gandhi, the Buddhist monks who seek the golden path? What of them? Are they, because of their unbelief,
consigned to hell?
There are those among our
denominational brethren who would say yes.
Some would go further and say if anyone has not accepted Jesus as their
“personal Savior”, worshiping in the way they prescribe, even others who believe
Christ is the way are doomed to eternal damnation. There are others who look more literally at
Revelations and say that only 144,000 will be saved (Revelations
7:4).
We of the Catholic faith look more broadly at scripture and see there
the merciful God who, like a loving parent, hopes that all his creation will
come to the infinite halls of the heavenly kingdom.
We believe that the
transition from the earthly life in our biological shell to the glorious body
of the resurrection is not instantaneous in most cases. Rather, there is a process of cleansing that
takes place. A process, as the Catechism
of the Catholic Church says “All who die in God's grace and friendship,
but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation;
but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness
necessary to enter the joy of heaven.”[7]
We call this process Purgatory and it is a great gift since it is the rare
individual who passes through this life completely in perfect contrition.
But what about Gandhi and the
monks? They rejected the notion that
Christ was the way? But they did not
understand – they saw God through their own lens of faith. When they come to see our Triune God about
which their understanding was incomplete, they too have access to the process
that completes their journey. We believe
that only the un-contrite those who have not sought forgiveness will consign
themselves to the places where there is wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Today we remember those,
living and dead who will find the final road to the heavenly kingdom to be too
difficult. May the Lord’s final mercy
bring them at last to his eternal home.
Pax
[1]
ALTRE
[2]
The picture used today is “Adoration of the Lamb” (detail) by Jan van Eyck,
1425-29
[3]
The readings are taken from the New American Bible with the exception of the
Psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for
English in Liturgy (ICEL). This
re-publication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
[4]
See NAB footnote on Rev 5:1-14
[5]
Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, © 2010, Ignatius Press, San Francisco , CA. pp.144-145
[6]
ibid
[7]
CCC 1030
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