(Optional Memorial for Saint
Catherine of Alexandria, Virgin, Martyr)
Alternate Readings for the
Memorial of St. Catherine of Alexandria may be taken from the Common of Virgins or
the Common of Martyrs
 |
| ”All is Vanity” by C. Allen Gilbert, c. 1900’s |
Reading 1: Revelation 20:1-4, 11—21:2
I, John, saw an angel come down
from heaven,
holding in his hand the key to
the abyss and a heavy chain.
He seized the dragon, the ancient
serpent,
which is the Devil or Satan,
and tied it up for a thousand
years and threw it into the abyss,
which he locked over it and
sealed,
so that it could no longer lead
the nations astray
until the thousand years are
completed.
After this, it is to be released
for a short time.
Then I saw thrones; those who sat
on them were entrusted with judgment.
I also saw the souls of those who
had been beheaded
for their witness to Jesus and
for the word of God,
and who had not worshiped the
beast or its image
nor had accepted its mark on
their foreheads or hands.
They came to life and they
reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
Next I saw a large white throne
and the one who was sitting on it.
The earth and the sky fled from
his presence
and there was no place for them.
I saw the dead, the great and the
lowly, standing before the throne,
and scrolls were opened.
Then another scroll was opened,
the book of life.
The dead were judged according to
their deeds,
by what was written in the
scrolls.
The sea gave up its dead;
then Death and Hades gave up
their dead.
All the dead were judged
according to their deeds.
Then Death and Hades were thrown
into the pool of fire.
(This pool of fire is the second
death.)
Anyone whose name was not found
written in the book of life
was thrown into the pool of fire.
Then I saw a new heaven and a new
earth.
The former heaven and the former
earth had passed away,
and the sea was no more.
I also saw the holy city, a new
Jerusalem,
coming down out of heaven from
God,
prepared as a bride adorned for
her husband.
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Commentary on Rv
20:1-4, 11—21:2
In this selection from John’s Book of Revelation we are given the
vision of Christ defeating sin and death (“holding in his hand the key to
the abyss and a heavy chain. He seized the dragon, the ancient serpent, which
is the Devil or Satan, and tied it up for a thousand years and threw it into
the abyss”). The thousand years specified is not to be taken literally.
Like other numerical references in apocalyptic literature different numbers
have different significance (i.e. 7 the perfect number or fullness, 6 the least
perfect number, hence 666 the mark of the beast, and 40 the number of years for
a generation), this one simply represents a long period of time between
Christ’s first victory and his second coming, the Parousia.
We also are given the image of the final judgment, when the dead
rise from their graves (I saw the dead, the great and the lowly, standing
before the throne) with a list of all they had done, the scrolls. They were
judged according to their actions and then either passed to the New Jerusalem
or cast into the pool of fire.
"The author then turns his
attention to the resurrection, when all men will be judged according to their
works. He describes this by using the metaphor of two books. One of
these records the actions of men (as in Daniel 7:10 and other passages
of the Old Testament, cf., e.g., Isaiah 65:6; Jeremiah 22:30).
The second book contains the names of those predestined to eternal life
(an idea inspired by Daniel 12:1; cf. also, e.g., Exodus 32:32).
This is a way of showing that man cannot attain salvation
by his own efforts alone: it is God who saves him: however, he needs
to act in such a way that he responds to the destiny God has marked out for
him."[4]
Finally comes the new age, and
God ruling over it for eternity symbolized by the wedding.
CCC: Rv 20:12 677; Rv
21:1-22:5 117; Rv
21:1-2 756; Rv 21:1 1043; Rv
21:2-4 677; Rv 21:2 757, 1045, 2016
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 84:3, 4, 5-6a and 8a
R. (Rv. 21:3b) Here God lives
among his people.
My soul yearns and pines
for the courts of the LORD.
My heart and my flesh
cry out for the living God.
R. Here God lives among his people.
Even the sparrow finds a home,
and the swallow a nest
in which she puts her young–
Your altars, O LORD of hosts,
my king and my God!
R. Here God lives among his people.
Blessed they who dwell in your
house!
continually they praise you.
Blessed the men whose strength
you are!
They go from strength to
strength.
R. Here God lives among his people.
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Commentary on Ps 84:3, 4, 5-6a and
8a
Psalm 84 is a hymn of praise for
those who depend on God (Blessed they who dwell in your house). The
house of the Lord invites all who are faithful, from the largest to the
smallest. Those who find a home in God's temple are blessed; they find
strength flowing from the Lord, sustaining them.
CCC: Ps 84:3 1770
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Gospel: Luke 21:29-33
Jesus told his disciples a
parable.
“Consider the fig tree and all
the other trees.
When their buds burst open,
you see for yourselves and know
that summer is now near;
in the same way, when you see
these things happening,
know that the Kingdom of God is
near.
Amen, I say to you, this
generation will not pass away
until all these things have taken
place.
Heaven and earth will pass away,
but my words will not pass away.”
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Commentary on Lk 21:29-33
As part of his discourse on the
destruction of Jerusalem, St. Luke’s Gospel gives us the Parable of the Fig
Tree (see also Mark 13:28-32 and Matthew 24:32-35). In
Palestine, nothing looks as dead in the winter as a fig tree. However, in
spring they bloom to new life (see also Joel 2:22). This imagery is seen at
two levels. First, the Lord himself must undergo his passion before taking his
place at the right hand of the Father. Second, more prophetically, the
Christian community must also undergo trials before coming to its own
spring-time of rebirth, alluding to the persecutions to come.
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Reflection:
The line we walk in tightening
circles is drawing back upon itself as we mark this second to the last day in
the liturgical year. This Sunday marks
the beginning of the Advent season and we must prepare to shift gears, as they
say. Today we continue our thoughts
about the end of all things, and hope desperately that our names are inscribed
in the book of life. We have faith that we will eventually find the eternal
home promised by our Lord.
Jesus’ parable in the Gospel
reminds us that the end will come sooner than we think, and that we dare not
procrastinate. The New Jerusalem is
waiting for us and the longer we delay in our own preparations the longer the
journey will be to get to that final destination.
The analogy of approaching
the mirror has been used before, but it is apt at this time as we come to the
end of another year. Looking in a mirror
from a great distance, we see ourselves, our spiritual selves, looking very
presentable. Especially if we are
standing next to our brothers and sisters, we may even look positively sparkling. As we draw closer to the mirror, representing
our spiritual introspection over the past year, we begin to see things that we
had not noticed before. We see little
flaws that were not apparent from the previous distance, but become glaringly
apparent as we stand closer.
Each cycle of spiritual
effort brings us closer to that mirror, and each year we find elements of our
faith lives that need to be repaired, replaced, or completely overhauled. Just as the fastidious dresser looks at each
seam, at each article of clothing, its color, its fit, the way it lays, so we
look at each element of our spiritual lives.
What seemed fine just a short year ago may not do at all with our new
heightened sense of spiritual awareness.
For now, we take our steps
toward a New Jerusalem where there is no more suffering or pain, where all our
spiritual blessings will be heaped upon us, and we will know what it is like to
be in the presence of pure love; for that is what God is. We have just one more
day beyond this one to contemplate that wondrous journey before we will look
once more at the mirror to see if we have prepared ourselves for the advent of
the king, who is Christ.
Pax
[2]
The picture used today is ”All is Vanity” by C. Allen Gilbert, c. 1900’s
[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]
The Navarre Bible: “Revelation and Hebrews and Catholic Letters”, Scepter
Publishers, Princeton, NJ, © 2003, pp. 116
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