Word to the Wise
Wednesday, November 19, 2014 - Wednesday in the 33th Week in Ordinary Time
[Rev 4:1-11 and Luke 19:11-28]"Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty, who was, and who is, and who is to come." [Revelation]
At the celebration of every Eucharist, the response of the congregation at the end of the prayer called "the Preface," comes what we often refer to as "the Holy, holy, holy..." (or the "Sanctus"). I doubt that many of us realize that this is taken from the Book of Revelation, which is being featured in the first scripture of the day this week. A quick read of the passage for today will show that this is one vivid piece of biblical literature. It is a recount of a vision or series of visions to a disciple named John on the island of Patmos. It is also not the only piece of its kind in the Bible. The Book of Daniel has chapters that rival it! Scripture scholars call this "apocalyptic" literature because it describes "end times." Jesus' own preaching in the gospels has some features of this in speaking of his return at the end of time. The Book of Revelation takes the whole thing to incredible heights. Some Christians take it a little too literally and try to decipher the visions in such a way as to predict the end of time. I remember a book like that entitled The Late Great Planet Earth. I was a young priest in law school at the time and there were a lot of questions from students about the book.
The Book of Revelation was written to help a community under persecution, particularly the persecution that took place during the reign of Nero in Rome in the 60's AD. Parallel pieces that are not in the biblical canon show similar features and figures. What one comes away with is a sense of the majesty and awesomeness of God and the challenge to all the "churches" to live up to Jesus' teachings and persevere in times of persecution. We can play with the vivid images all we want, but the meaning doesn't go much beyond that. I think it is more than enough! AMEN
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