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Revelation: 10: 8-11

I, John, heard a voice from heaven speak to me.
Then the voice spoke to me and said:
“Go, take the scroll that lies open in the hand of the angel
who is standing on the sea and on the land.”
So I went up to the angel and told him to give me the small scroll.
He said to me, “Take and swallow it.
It will turn your stomach sour,
but in your mouth it will taste as sweet as honey.”
I took the small scroll from the angel’s hand and swallowed it.
In my mouth it was like sweet honey,
but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour.
Then someone said to me, “You must prophesy again
about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings.”

The Word of the Lord.

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All week we’ve been reading through the Book of Revelation, which deals with the end times, divine judgment, the return of Christ, his triumphant defeat over Satan, and the glory of heaven.

At this point in the Book, John has seen the glory of God. Now he’s asked to take a scroll and eat it. Notice it isn’t forced upon him; he must choose to accept it.

“Take and swallow it,” the heavenly voice says. “It will turn your stomach sour, but in your mouth it will taste as sweet as honey.”

What is this scroll John is asked to eat? And what might it mean for us?

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The scroll contains the Word of God, which is never forced upon us. Rather, we’re invited to take it, to savor it, and to digest it until it becomes part of who we are.

To one with faith, this Word tastes as sweet as honey, because it reveals the Truth. 

However, it can also leave a sour feeling in our stomach because of what that Word demands – a change in priorities, an end to vice, and a conversion of heart. 

If anyone is to enjoy the vision of God, which John was privileged to see, then we must be willing to suffer first, turning our priorities upside down, right side up, putting God first at every moment in our lives.

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For example, generous living is a sweet idea… but Christians are called to give until it hurts.

Honesty is a virtue we all value… but try being honest after getting caught in a lie.

Purity of heart is the most admirable of traits… but keeping the darkness of temptation at bay is never easy.

We adore Christ for laying down his life to save us… but he reminds us, “You are my friends if you do what I command you.” We, too, must lay down our lives for others.

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As we approach this holy season of Advent, may we develop a tolerance for the sour, trusting, in time, it all becomes sweet.

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Image credits: (1) Draw for God (2) Devoted to You (3) iBelieve.com

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Gospel: Matthew 12: 46-50

While Jesus was speaking to the crowds,
his mother and his brothers appeared outside,
wishing to speak with him.
Someone told him, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside,
asking to speak with you.”
But he said in reply to the one who told him,
“Who is my mother?  
Who are my brothers?”
And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said,
“Here are my mother and my brothers.
For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father
is my brother, and sister, and mother.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Today we celebrate the Presentation of the Virgin Mary, a feast that dates back to the 6^th century. 

While Mary’s presentation in the Temple is not recorded in the Gospels, many believe that her parents, Anne and Joachim, brought her to the Temple in Jerusalem around the age of three, consecrating her to the Lord.

Mary was their only child. Taking her on pilgrimage and offering her back to God was both an act of faith and thanksgiving. 

Some years later, Mary will do the same as she and Joseph bring the Christ-child, wrapped in swaddling clothes, to the same Temple, also offering him to God. 

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This feast teaches us three things.

First, Christians are called to be people of gratitude. We recognize that everything is from God and, ultimately, everyone belongs to God, even those we hold most precious in our lives.

Second, we are a pilgrim people. Pilgrims are on a journey; the ground we stand upon is neither our home nor our final destination. It’s merely a place of passage. We see this world – and all things in it – as passing, and act accordingly.

Occasionally, we also make smaller pilgrimages, like going up to Jerusalem (or, for some parishioners next February, Portugal!) to remind us of our true homeland, heaven.

Third, we are generous people. We give to God what belongs to God. In Anne and Joachim’s case, they offer their only daughter. Mary does the same with Christ. 

We, too, should offer our lives in service to the Gospel.

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On this, her feast day, may Mary intercede for us that we’d be people of gratitude, pilgrimage, and generosity, recognizing that everything and everyone belongs to the Lord.

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Image credits: (1) Crossmap Blogs (2) Vatican News (3) Living Bulwark

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Revelation 4: 1-11

I, John, had a vision of an open door to heaven,
and I heard the trumpetlike voice
that had spoken to me before, saying,
“Come up here and I will show you what must happen afterwards.”
At once I was caught up in spirit.
A throne was there in heaven, and on the throne sat one
whose appearance sparkled like jasper and carnelian.
Around the throne was a halo as brilliant as an emerald.
Surrounding the throne I saw twenty-four other thrones
on which twenty-four elders sat,
dressed in white garments and with gold crowns on their heads.
From the throne came flashes of lightning,
rumblings, and peals of thunder.
Seven flaming torches burned in front of the throne,
which are the seven spirits of God.
In front of the throne was something that resembled
a sea of glass like crystal.

In the center and around the throne,
there were four living creatures
covered with eyes in front and in back.
The first creature resembled a lion, the second was like a calf,
the third had a face like that of a man,
and the fourth looked like an eagle in flight.
The four living creatures, each of them with six wings,
were covered with eyes inside and out.
Day and night they do not stop exclaiming:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty,
who was, and who is, and who is to come.”
Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks
to the one who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever,
the twenty-four elders fall down
before the one who sits on the throne
and worship him, who lives forever and ever.
They throw down their crowns before the throne, exclaiming:

“Worthy are you, Lord our God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things;
because of your will they came to be and were created.”

The Word of the Lord.

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Advent is an appointed season, when we’re called to contemplate the return of Christ, the end of the world, and the new world being ushered in by him.

As we near this holy season, the Church offers us excerpts from the Book of Revelation as our first reading to warm us up, as it were. Revelation contains some of the most graphic images of what heaven is like.

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“I, John, had a vision of an open door to heaven,” he says today, “and I heard the trumpetlike voice saying, ‘Come up here and I will show you.’”

Just as a door connects two different spaces, so heaven and earth are linked; bound together. Once John passes through that door, he sees God seated upon his throne. But he does not describe God using human-like qualities.

In a single word, God is light. 

Three colors that emanate from God are green, red, and an unbearably bright crystal. The green represents God’s mercy; the red, his wrath for those who have harmed his “little ones”; and the brilliant crystal, his holiness.

Thus, God is merciful, just, and pure.

Beneath his throne is a sea of glass, representing the purity, expansiveness, and luxuriousness of heaven.

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Surrounding God’s throne are four living creatures, which resemble a lion, an ox, an eagle, and a human. These creatures represent many things, including the four Gospels and the life of Christ. 

The lion represents the strength and power of Christ. The ox, being an animal of sacrifice, represents Christ’s self-offering. The human represents his incarnation. And the eagle represents the Holy Spirit, who comes to us at Pentecost.

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Finally, John hears a loud chorus of praise, the only possible reaction to being in God’s presence. Together, they sing, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God almighty, who was, and who is, and who is to come.

As we prepare for the Lord’s return, may we join our hearts with the choirs of heaven, praising the God of yesterday, today, and forever for having loved us and given himself for us.

Some day we, too, shall see for ourselves what the splendor of heaven is like.

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Image credits: (1) Bible Pics (2) Bible Only, WordPress (3)