ABVM PARISH COMMUNITY

               The Book of Revelation has enhanced Christian worship with beautiful hymns sung by angels and saints.   After the conclusion of the seven messages to the churches in Asia Minor, the sacred author ushers the reader into a worship service where two beautiful hymns are sung: “And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all round and within, and day and night they never cease to sing, ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” (Rev 4:8).   While they sing the twenty-four elders, representing the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve apostles, fall down in adoration and sing, “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created” (Rev 4:11).   One might consider the Book of Revelation to be a book of worship.   Some of its hymns have found their way into the Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours.             Revelation

  MESSAGE TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES The second and third chapters of Revelation consist of messages from Christ to the seven churches in the Roman province of Asia Minor, all located within the modern nation of Turkey.   Jesus has the apostle John write to the “angel” of each of them, a term used most likely for the presiding bishop.   We ought to consider these messages carefully, for they reveal a lot about how Christ relates to his followers on earth.   I think at different times all of us can be found in one or more of these congregations.   Each message is distinct, but I notice four major themes:   1-      God’s approval :   Five of the seven churches are praised for their willingness to suffer for the faith.   I find it moving that Christ readily admits the difficulty of their situations.   He says to the Christians in Pergamum, “ I know that you live where Satan’s throne is, and yet you hold fast to my name .”   To the church in Ephesus, “ You have endurance and have suffered f

Due to the obscurity of the imagery in the Book of Revelation it was not universally acknowledged as Sacred Scripture in the first few hundred years of Christianity. However, the conviction that it was written by the apostle John eventually overcame opposition to its inclusion in the New Testament. Anyone reading Revelation today can understand why there was a controversy, and why there are so many divergent interpretations. There are basically four ways to interpret it: the futurist, which sees the book as a prophesy regarding the end of the world; the preterist (from Latin meaning “last”) which interprets the Book of Revelation as using apocalyptic imagery to describe first century conflicts; the historicist, which sees the work as presenting different stages in the history of the Church; and the idealist, which considers it as colorfully portraying aspects of the spiritual life and providing encouragement for the persecuted followers of Christ I believe that edifying

From a merely human perspective it would appear that mercy and justice are opposed to each other. It would seem that, in some situations, one must choose one or the other. To Pope St. John Paul II, however, this is not an acceptable option for the Christian. On the first Sunday of Advent in 1980 the Holy Father promulgated the second encyclical of his pontificate, with the Latin title Dives in misericordia (“Full of Mercy”). In it he writes, “Mercy differs from justice, but it is not in opposition to it.” He quotes the Book of Wisdom, which affirms that God does not hate anything which he has made. These words reveal “the profound basis of the relationship between justice and mercy in God” (cf. Wis 10:11). The pope refers to mercy as love’s second name. To believe in the love of God is to believe in mercy. Mercy is “the specific manner in which love is revealed and effected vis-à-vis the reality of the evil that is in the world.” Divine love is expressed by God’s w