Saturday, December 18, 2021

Read the Bible with Me!

Welcome to the Pauline Family's "Year of the Bible"! We are about to finish our year-long project, so read along with me. But first, let us pray: 

Come, Lord Jesus! 
Come to me
as I read these divinely inspired writings.
Come and enlighten me so that I receive from them the nourishment I need to be your faithful witness in the world today.
Come to people who are seeking you, and to those whom I may meet on my daily round.
Come to those who see the Word lived by those who do not even know your name.
Come to those who hear the Word proclaimed, but see it contradicted by those who speak it.
And when the last day dawns, come to take us all to be with you!
Maranatha!
Come, Lord Jesus!

Today's chapters are Jude and Revelation 1-2.

We are delving into apocalyptic territory today, after a final pastoral admonition from Jude (who uses a bit of apocalyptic language himself). Because the Letter of Jude ("brother of James") reflects Jewish writings that are not recognized as Scripture, the letter itself was considered suspect by some in the early Church, but it was always included in the official lists of New Testament books, and had in St Jerome an especially vigorous advocate. Jude appeals to Old Testament stories and teachings, and to the non-canonical story of Enoch, to support his pastoral exhortation: Beware of false teachers! Their doctrines lead to sexual immorality and put your souls at risk! (Jude also highlights the meekness of St Michael, and gives us one of the invocations we pray in the St Michael prayer.)

And so we come to the most mysterious book in (probably) the whole Bible: the Book of Revelation. (Many people may be scratching their heads over the name, wondering what is being "revealed" in such a mysterious book.) Despite all the images and the many creative attempts to de-code the book, Revelation is not written in secret code! (Disappointing, but true.) 

Maybe we would do better to read these final 22 chapters of the Bible the way the first recipients of John's mysterious message did: as people of faith, receiving a Word of faith, encouraging them to live by faith even when everything around them seemed to be saying that all was lost and that their faith had deceived them.  Jesus himself is presented as "the faithful and true Witness" (1:5; 3:14) to such as these: people who may have been on the verge of giving up and giving in. John shows them Jesus as Daniel's  Son of Man risen from the dead and walking among the lampstands: their lampstands, with the quivering flames of their faith, and speaking to them! 

The Book of Revelation opens on a Sunday, the day when the recipients would be gathered for worship. Worship will mark the entirety of the book: Pay attention when doors and windows to Heaven open up and we get a look inside! What is going on in Heaven in Revelation continues to happen all the time, even now. The book is not so much concerned with "foretelling" future events like the end of the world (although there are some things "still to come"), as with revealing (unveiling; apocalyptein) reality, especially the reality of Jesus' victory over every possible evil. This can encourage us all to stand firm, no matter what threatens us!

The messages to the "seven churches" (the "angel" is the local bishop) read a bit like the last two Epistles we read. For the most part these are short exhortations to faithfulness, including a pointed warning about the particular temptation facing the local community. There are two exceptions: The Churches of Philadelphia and the Church of Smyrna receive no reproach or call to repentance. With regard to Smyrna, it is hard to resist the possibility that the local bishop there was none other than Polycarp, disciple of John the Evangelist and future martyr, whose death in Smyrna at age 86 was one of the first martyrdoms ever recorded by eyewitnesses.

Read Jude here and start the Book of Revelation here.

LAGNIAPPE
Seeing what John saw

The book of Revelation is famous for its imagery, some of it already found in the Old Testament ("four living creatures," for example). One place to see some of this imagery "in situ" (so to speak) is in liturgical icons or mosaics, like the double arches in the Basilica of Santa Prassede in Rome. I lived in Rome for a couple of years, and made my way to the 9th century Church of "St Praxedes" as often as possible.

The inside arch (closest to the bowl of the apse) depicts the Book of Revelation most straightforwardly: In the circle at the top of the arch is the "Lamb that was slain" (5:6) standing upon a "book with seven seals" (5:1-5). Across the top of the arch are four angels and "four living creatures" (4:7, here as the Four Evangelists). Dressed in long white robes, in groups of twelve on either side of the arch are the "twenty-four elders" (4:4) holding high the "crowns" they are about to "cast down before the throne" (4:9). And that's just the inside arch!

The outer arch is called the Triumphal Arch. It depicts the Heavenly Jerusalem, a walled city with angels at the gates (21:2; at the center),  groups of welcoming saints on right and left, and a group in white holding palm branches (7:9) on the sides of the arches. (Sadly, the palm-waving youths were broken through to make way for Baroque reliquaries.) 
 
The Arches and Apse of Santa Prassede, Rome
Photo by Nicholas Hartmann, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The monogram in blue at the center on the underside of both arches is that of Pope Paschal, the builder of this church, who can also be seen (just barely) in the apse itself: He is standing on Christ's far left (as we see it) in gold vestments, holding a model of the church building in his hands to present it to Christ. In the mosaic, Pope Paschal has a blue square framing his head, rather than a halo: That means that he was alive at the time the church was dedicated (July 20, 817 AD).

For more background

Years ago I attended a lecture series by Dr James Papandrea on the Book of Revelation and found it very helpful. His book, The Wedding of the Lamb: A Historical Approach to the Book of Revelation, is kind of expensive, but there is a Kindle version in case you are looking for a companion to Revelation by a Catholic theologian. 

Another helpful resource (one that I am currently reading) is by Dr Michael J. Gorman, a Scripture scholar who is a particular expert on St Paul. Gorman is a United Methodist, but he teaches at a Catholic seminary and I have no hesitation about recommending his work. Catholic readers will just find that most of his immediate applications are to mainline Protestant experiences, rather than Catholic parish life. (By the way, I find Gorman's understanding of Paul on "Cruciformity" very much in line with our Founder's thought and with the teachings of St John Eudes.)

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