Mersey Leven Catholic Parish
Mob: 0417 279 437; mike.delaney@aohtas.org.au
Assistant Priest: Fr Alexander Obiorah
Mob: 0447 478 297; alexchuksobi@yahoo.co.uk
Postal Address:
Parish Office: 90 Stewart Street , Devonport 7310
(Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 10am - 3pm)
Office Phone: 6424 2783 Fax: 6423 5160
Email: mlcathparish-dsl@keypoint.com.au
Email: mlcathparish-dsl@keypoint.com.au
Secretary: Annie Davies / Anne Fisher
Pastoral Council Chair: Mary Davies
Pastoral Council Chair: Mary Davies
Parish Mass Times: mlcpmasstimes.blogspot.com.au
Weekly Homily Podcast: mikedelaney.podomatic.com
Parish Magazine: mlcathparishnewsletter.blogspot.com.au
Year of Mercy Blogspot: mlcpyom.blogspot.com.au
Our Parish Sacramental Life
Baptism: Parents are asked to contact the Parish Office to make arrangements for attending a Baptismal Preparation Session and booking a Baptism date.
Reconciliation, Confirmation and Eucharist: Are received following a Family–centred, Parish-based, School-supported Preparation Program.
Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults: prepares adults for reception into the Catholic community.
Marriage: arrangements are made by contacting one of our priests - couples attend a Pre-marriage Program
Anointing of the Sick: please contact one of our priests
Reconciliation: Ulverstone - Fridays (10am - 10:30am)
Devonport - Saturday (5:15pm– 5.45pm)
Penguin - Saturday (5:15pm - 5:45pm)
Care and Concern: If you are aware of anyone who is in need of assistance and has given permission to be contacted by Care and Concern, please phone the Parish Office.
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Weekday Masses 4th- 8th April Mass Times Next Weekend 9th & 10th April
Monday: 9.30am - Ulverstone Saturday: 9:00am Ulverstone
12noon - Devonport Saturday Vigil: 6:00pm Penguin & Dport
Tuesday: 9:30am - Penguin Sunday Mass: 8:30am Port Sorell
Wednesday: 9:30am - Latrobe
Thursday: 12noon - Devonport 10:30am Devonport
Friday: 9:30am - Ulverstone 11:00am Sheffield 5:00pm Latrobe
Eucharistic Adoration:
Devonport: Every Friday 10am - 12noon, concluding with Stations of the Cross and Angelus
Devonport: Benediction with Adoration - first Friday of each month.
Legion of Mary:
Sacred Heart Church Community Room, Ulverstone, Wednesdays, 11am
Prayer Groups:
Charismatic Renewal
Devonport (Emmaus House) - Thursdays commencing 7.30pm
Christian Meditation:
Devonport, Emmaus House - Wednesdays 7pm.
Ministry Rosters 9th
& 10th April, 2016
Devonport:
Readers: Vigil: P Douglas, T Douglas, M Knight 10:30am K Pearce, J Tuxworth
Ministers of Communion: Vigil B&B
Windebank, T Bird, J Kelly, R Baker, Beau Windebank
Cleaners 8th April: P Shelverton, E Petts 15th
April: B Paul, D
Atkins, V Riley
Piety Shop 9th April: H Thompson 10th April: O McGinley Flowers: A O’Connor
Ulverstone:
Reader: D Prior Ministers of Communion: B Deacon, J Allen, G Douglas, K
Reilly
Cleaners: K.S.C. Flowers: G Doyle Hospitality: M&K McKenzie
Penguin:
Greeters: Fifita Family Commentator: Readers: T Clayton, J Barker
Procession: Y&R Downes Ministers of Communion: S Ewing, A Guest
Liturgy: Sulphur Creek C Setting Up: M Murray Care of Church: J&T Kiely
Port Sorell:
Readers: E Holloway, G Duff Ministers of Communion: V Duff, B Lee Clean/Flowers/Prepare/ B
Lee, A Holloway
Readings This Week; Second Sunday of Easter
First Reading: Acts 5:12-16
Second Reading: Apocalypse 1:9-13. 17-19
Gospel: John 20: 19- 31
PREGO REFLECTION:
I read this Gospel passage slowly and I use my imagination
to see the events unfolding. Perhaps I can see myself as a disciple in this
scene seeing Jesus alive again after all his suffering for me.
How do I feel?
How would I respond?
What would I want to say to Jesus?
After taking time to
listen to my heart’s response, I now hear Jesus’ words as if spoken to me
today: “( My name) Peace be with you“ “As the Father sent me, so am I sending
you ( my name)”
What grace do I need to ask for in order to respond to this
loving call?
Maybe I have doubts, maybe like Thomas I seek for some certainty.
I tell the Lord about it, trusting that he will hear me.
Jesus knows what I
need and I place all my trust in him.
When I am ready I end my prayer in the
name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Readings Next Week: Third Sunday of Easter
First Reading: Acts: 5:27-32, 40-41
Second Reading: Apocalypse 5:11-14
Gospel: John 21:1-19
Let us pray for those who have died recently: Elizabeth Muffet, Graham Nicholson, June Bennett, Bernard
Gillon, Kevin Sheedy, Laurel Crowe, Maisie Gadsby, Bryn
Peden, Glen Halley Snr, Thomas Beard and Fr
Elio Proietto,
Let us pray for those whose anniversary occurs about this time: 30th
March – 5th April
Horace Byrne, Eileen Murfet, Beris
McCarthy, Fred Harrison, Ada Davey, Jane Dutton, Paul Lowry, Duncan Fox, Daphne
Wills, Meridith McCormack and Annie McCulloch. Also deceased relatives &
friends of Helen McLennan & Family, Jeffrey & Genaro Visorro, Bruce
Smith, Robert Patrick King, Fortunato & Asuncion Makiputin.
May they Rest in Peace
WEEKLY
RAMBLINGS:
At the
Easter Masses I used the word Easter to speak about how I might try to become
and live my life as an Easter Person. Here are my guides (they will also form
the basis of my homilies over these next weeks).
E – Energising
in my prayer, my preaching, and in my celebration of the Mass and the
Sacraments;
A -
Accepting so that when people are welcomed they will also feel they have been
accepted because they are important to me;
S –
Speaking so that in my homilies and whenever I spend time with children and
other people in a teaching role my words might more powerfully be an expression
of my faith and my life;
T - Thanks
for all the good things I have, for the wonderful people in our Parish and to
do it with a smile on my face so that people will see that my life is filled
with joy and peace;
E -
Encouraging so that others know that the Gospel is more than just words - it is
the living Word of God inviting me/us to be a sign of his love in the world;
R - my
Response to the Word of God to encourage people to be more aware of our
Baptismal Commitment to be disciples and witnesses of God’s love to the world.
What
response can you make of this challenge to be/to live as an Easter Person?
This
weekend we welcome the children who are preparing to receive the Sacraments of
Reconciliation, Confirmation and Eucharist during this coming year. (See note
on next page).
On Monday
we celebrate the Feast of the Annunciation - held over from the 25th March
because of Holy Week and the Octave of Easter.
There are two Masses, at 9.30am at Ulverstone and at 12noon at
Devonport, to allow as many as possible to attend Mass on the day.
Mersey Leven Parish
Community welcome and congratulate
Addison and Lucas
Foster on their baptism this weekend.
GRANS VAN:
The
month of April has again been allocated to our Parish to assist with Grans Van
on the four Sunday evenings in that month. Help is required as follows, (a) cooking
a stew (b) assisting with the food distribution (c) driving the van. Help with
(b) and (c) would take about two hours of your time.
If you are able to assist with any of the above please
contact Lyn Otley 6424:4736 or Shirley Ryan 6424:1508.
ST VINCENT
DE PAUL: will be holding their Button Day on Friday 8th
April. If anyone has an hour or two to spare it would be much
appreciated. Please contact Marie.
CWL ULVERSTONE:
Next
meeting will be held on Friday 8th April in the
Community Room at 2pm.
FOOTY POINTS MARGIN TICKETS:
Round 1 – Richmond by 9
points Winners; G Doyle, Kevin Hayes & Zillah Jones
BINGO
Thursday Nights - OLOL Hall, Devonport.
Eyes down 7.30pm!
Callers for Thursday 7th April – Jon Halley & Rod Clark
ST. MARY'S PENGUIN: Saturday 16th April - All are invited to a Soup and
sandwich tea after Mass. Please bring a plate of sandwiches or a dessert to
share.
NEWS FROM ACROSS THE ARCHDIOCESE:
SISTERS OF ST
JOSEPH SESQUICENTENARY
The Sisters of St Joseph invite you to join us in joy and thanksgiving as we celebrate 150 years since our foundation 19th March 1866 at Penola, South Australia. We have forged strong links with the people of this parish over many years establishing schools in Forth 1889, Ulverstone 1889, Devonport 1891 and accepting Pastoral Care of Penguin Parish in 1986. We remember the many people who have been part of this journey with us. Together let us continue to “listen to the heartbeat of the world” responding in faith and trust as did our patron, Joseph and our Founders, Mary MacKillop and Julian Tenison Woods.
THE JOURNEY
CATHOLIC RADIO PROGRAM – AIRS 10 APRIL 2016
This
week on The Journey Fr Richard Healey reflects on the Gospel of John during the
third Week of Easter; Sr Hilda Scott OSB invites us to “Ask God into our
Hearts,” Bruce Downes The Catholic Guy reminds us that we are “Called to
Forgive” and Trish McCarthy in Milk and Honey challenges us to “Enjoy and
Savour our Mealtimes.” This week’s show is also full of great songs, so
go to www.jcr.org.au or www.itunes.jcr.org.au where you can listen anytime and subscribe to
weekly shows by email.
GOOD
SHEPHERD SUNDAY – 17TH April 2016
On this World Day of Prayer for Vocations,
Archbishop Julian will lead a Holy Hour praying for vocations to the priesthood
and consecrated life for our Archdiocese at the Carmelite Monastery, 7
Cambridge St., Launceston, from 2:15pm – 3:15pm. All are welcome to join our
Archbishop and the Carmelite Community in prayer for this important intention.
THE TRIUMPH OF GOODNESS
An Article by Fr Ron Rolheiser. The original article can be found here
The stone which rolled away from the tomb of Jesus continues to roll away from every sort of grave. Goodness cannot be held, captured, or put to death. It evades its pursuers, escapes capture, slips away, hides out, even leaves the churches sometimes, but forever rises, again and again, all over the world. Such is the meaning of the resurrection.
Goodness cannot be captured or killed. We see this already in the earthly life of Jesus. There are a number of passages in the Gospels which give the impression that Jesus was somehow highly elusive and difficult to capture. It seems that until Jesus consents to his own capture, nobody can lay a hand on him. We see this played out a number of times: Early on in his ministry, when his own townsfolk get upset with his message and lead him to the brow of a hill to hurl him to his death, we are told that “he slipped through the crowd and went away.” Later when the authorities try to arrest him we are told simply that “he slipped away”. And, in yet another incident when he is in temple area and they try to arrest him, the text simply says that he left the temple area and “no one laid a hand upon him because his hour had not yet come.” Why the inability to take him captive? Was Jesus so physically adept and elusive that no one could imprison him?
These stories of his “slipping away” are highly symbolic. The lesson is not that Jesus was physically deft and elusive, but rather that the word of God, the grace of God, the goodness of God, and power of God can never be captured, held captive, or ultimately killed. They are adept. They can never be held captive, can never be killed, and even when seemingly they are killed, the stone that entombs them always eventually rolls back and releases them. Goodness continues to resurrect from every sort of grave.
And it is this, the constant resurrection of goodness, not that of viciousness and evil, which speaks the deepest truth about our world and our lives. The Jewish-Hungarian writer, Imre Kertesz, who won the Nobel Prize for literature in 2002, gives a poignant testimony of this. He had as a young boy been in a Nazi death camp, but what he remembered most afterwards from this experience was not the injustice, cruelty, and death that he saw there, but rather some acts of goodness, kindness, and altruism he witnessed amidst that evil. After the war, it left him wanting to read the lives of saints rather than biographies of war. The appearance of goodness fascinated him. To his mind, evil is explicable, but goodness? Who can explain it? What is its source? Why does it spring up over and over again all over the earth, and in every kind of situation?
It springs up everywhere because God’s goodness and power lie at the source of all being and life. This is what is revealed in the resurrection of Jesus. What the resurrection reveals is that the ultimate source of all that is, of all being and life, is gracious, good, and loving. Moreover it also reveals that graciousness, goodness, and love are the ultimate power inside reality. They will have the final word and they will never be captured, derailed, killed, or ultimately ignored. They will break through, ceaselessly, forever. In the end, too, as Imre Kertesz suggests, they are more fascinating than evil.
And so we are in safe hands. No matter how bad the news on a given day, no matter how threatened our lives are on a given day, no matter how intimidating the neighborhood or global bully, not matter how unjust and cruel a situation, and no matter how omnipotent are anger and hatred, love and goodness will reappear and ultimately triumph.
Jesus taught that the source of all life and being is benign and loving. He promised too that our end will be benign and loving. In the resurrection of Jesus, God showed that God has the power to deliver on that promise. Goodness and love will triumph! The ending of our story, both that of our world and that of our individual lives, is already written – and it is a happy ending! We are already saved. Goodness is guaranteed. Kindness will meet us. We only need to live in the face of that wonderful truth.
They couldn’t arrest Jesus, until he himself allowed it. They put his dead body in a tomb and sealed it with a stone, but the stone rolled away. His disciples abandoned him in his trials, but they eventually returned more committed than ever. They persecuted and killed his first disciples, but that only served to spread his message. The churches have been unfaithful sometimes, but God just slipped away from those particular temple precincts. God has been declared dead countless time, but yet a billion people just celebrated Easter.
Goodness cannot be killed. Believe it!
Reading
Scripture with the Mind of Christ
Looking at
which Scripture passages Jesus emphasizes (remember, the Hebrew Bible was his
only Bible!) shows he clearly understands how to connect the "three steps
forward" dots that confirm the God he has met, knows, loves, and trusts.
At the same time, Jesus ignores or openly contradicts the many "two steps
backward" texts. He never quotes the book of Numbers, for example, which
is rather ritualistic and legalistic. He never quotes Joshua or Judges, which
are full of sanctified violence. Basically, Jesus doesn't quote from his own
Scriptures when they are punitive, imperialistic, classist, or exclusionary. In
fact, he teaches the opposite.
Jesus does
not mention the list of twenty-eight "thou shall nots" in Leviticus
18 through 20, but chooses instead to echo the rare positive quote of Leviticus
19:18: "You must love your neighbor as yourself." The longest single
passage he quotes is from Isaiah 61 (in Luke 4:18-19): "The Spirit of the
Lord has been given to me. He has anointed me to bring good news to the poor,
to proclaim liberty to captives, and to the blind new sight, to set the
downtrodden free, and to proclaim a year of favor from the Lord." But
Jesus quotes selectively; he appears to have deliberately omitted the last
line--"and the day of vengeance of our God" (Isaiah 61:2b)--because
he does not believe in a God of vengeance at all.
Jesus knows
how to connect the dots and find out where the text is truly heading, beyond
the low-level consciousness of a particular moment, fear, or circumstance. He knows
there is a bigger arc to the story: one that always reveals a God who is
compassionate, nonviolent, and inclusive of outsiders. He knows how to
"thin slice" the text, to find the overall pattern based on small
windows of insight. He learned from Ezekiel, for example, that God's justice is
restorative and not retributive.
We can only
safely read Scripture--it is a dangerous book--if we are somehow sharing in the
divine gaze of love. A life of prayer helps you develop a third eye that can
read between the lines and find the golden thread which is moving toward
inclusivity, mercy, and justice. I am sure that is what Paul means when he
teaches that we must "know spiritual things in a spiritual way" (1
Corinthians 2:13). Any "pre-existing condition" of a hardened heart,
a predisposition to judgment, a fear of God, any need to win or prove yourself
right will corrupt and distort the most inspired and inspiring of
Scriptures--just as they pollute every human conversation and relationship.
Hateful people will find hateful verses to confirm their obsession with death.
Loving people will find loving verses to call them into an even greater love of
life. And both kinds of verses are in the Bible!
Reference:
Adapted from
Richard Rohr, Hierarchy of Truths: Jesus' Use of Scripture (Center for Action
and Contemplation: 2014), CD, MP3 download.
The Book of Revelation:
Six homilies for Easter
This article can be found at ThinkingFaith.org along with lots of other interesting reading material
Our Sunday second readings in this Easter season are taken from the Book of Revelation, one of the most challenging texts in the Bible. Peter Edmonds SJ looks closely at the extracts that we will hear over the coming weeks and suggests how they, and the book as a whole, can help us to deepen our Easter faith and joy.
Many good people admit that the Book of Revelation makes them uneasy. Its contents seem strange and alien. The narrative is difficult to follow. The symbolism of beasts that come out of the sea and of numbers written on right hands and of marks made on foreheads puzzles us. There are too many plagues and excessive violence. We seem to learn too much about angels and too little about people like ourselves. And we also know that this is a text that is continually misused by people who seek from it information about events in our own time and who speculate about the date of the end of the world.
Yet it is a biblical book and when it is read out as the ‘word of the Lord’ in our liturgy, we reply, ‘Thanks be to God’. It is the last of the biblical books, the final chapter of the whole Bible, and we are not comfortable if we fail to read the last chapter of a book. It begins and ends with the name of Christ. It is his ‘revelation’ (1:1). It concludes with an Amen, celebrating ‘the grace of the Lord Jesus’ (22:21). It promises a blessing both to those who read it and those who hear it and ‘keep what is written in it’ (1:3). All major Christian traditions acknowledge it as sacred scripture.
The Church is cautious with this book. There are only seven occasions when it is an official Sunday reading. The first is on the Feast of Christ the King in Year B of the Sunday cycle. The remainder occur on the Sundays after Easter Sunday in Year C. Let us take these seven readings as our entrance into this book. They are chosen presumably to encourage us to penetrate more deeply into the Easter mystery and to deepen our Easter faith and joy. Those who preach on Sundays might be bold enough to base their homilies on them.
New Titles for Christ (Christ the King, Year B – Revelation 1:5-8)
The book begins, ‘The revelation of Jesus Christ’, an indication that the chief subject of the book is the person of Jesus Christ. In this brief extract from the first chapter which constitutes a Prologue for the book, we have three unique titles given to Christ. He is ‘the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth’. This text reminds us firstly of the witness that Christ gave, especially in the trials before the high priests and Pontius Pilate that preceded his death; and of the fact that at the beginning of the Acts, the Risen Christ sent the apostles out to be his witnesses (Acts 1:8). Secondly, as ‘firstborn of the dead’, he is a pledge of our own resurrection; Paul called him ‘the firstborn within a large family’ (Romans 8:29). He is the ‘first fruits of those who have fallen asleep’ (1 Corinthians 15:20). Thirdly, he is ‘ruler of the kings of the earth’. When this book was written, the Caesar in Rome was the most powerful man on earth. This third title of the Risen Christ reminds us how, again with Paul, we are to confess that ‘Jesus Christ is Lord’ (Philippians 2:11). Here is a text well suited for the feast of Christ the King. These three titles for Christ are also attractive and appropriate for Easter time.
John Our Brother (Second Sunday of Easter, Year C – Revelation 1:9-13, 17-19)
Continuing our reading from the Prologue, we are introduced to the writer and to the audience of the book, before we again turn our gaze to Christ. The author is named; he is John. There are several possibilities as to which John he might be. He could be John, the son of Zebedee whom we meet in the gospels. He was called a Son of Thunder, and thus well qualified to receive the sort of visions he is soon to experience (Mark 3:17). The name reminds us of the Gospel of John. Here we have a hint that this book may be related in some way to that gospel, and we are invited to be on the lookout for links between these two works. The day is ‘the Lord’s day’ and John was ‘in the Spirit’. Here we might note the self-descriptions of Christ as one who is ‘alive’: in the gospel, Jesus revealed himself to Martha as the ‘Resurrection and the life’ (John 11:25). As good shepherd, he came ‘that they may have life, and have it abundantly’ (John 10:10).
This John is named as our ‘brother’; he knows what our lives are like and belongs to the family that is the Church. He is in trouble and exile because of ‘the word of God and the testimony of Jesus’. We can imagine him gazing out over the sea from Patmos towards the seven churches of Asia who were the audience for his book. He would be longing to see them again; all he can do is to send them the letters which we are shortly to read. Like Paul and the Philippians, John was yearning for them all ‘with the compassion of Christ Jesus’ (Philippians 1:8).
As for the seven churches in Asia, we will read in the next two chapters of the book catalogues of their deficiencies and their qualities. We note that Christ is in the midst of these churches. He is the ‘Emmanuel’, the God-with-us of whom Matthew spoke (Matthew 1:23). We listen to what he has to say. He speaks as the Risen One: ‘I was dead, and see, I am alive for ever and ever; and I have the keys of Death and of Hades’. It should come as no surprise that this Book of Revelation offers four recommended readings for funeral Masses. A practical exercise is to ask ourselves what deficiencies and qualities Christ would list if he were to send his angel to write a letter to us and our communities.
Liturgy of Heaven (Third Sunday of Easter, Year C – Revelation 5:11-14)
One of the qualifications necessary for a prophet to be accepted as such was proof that he had been present at a heavenly liturgy. Isaiah left a vivid account of his presence at such a liturgy. We still repeat in our worship the ‘holy, holy, holy’ that he heard there (Isaiah 6:3-13). In Revelation 4-5, we have an elaborate account from John of the liturgy that he witnessed in heaven, with a careful description of those who take part in it. Our reading gives us only the final verses of this worship. Special in this is the arrival of Christ, after his death and resurrection. As in the Gospel of John, he is the Lamb (John 1:29). They sing to him a special hymn in which seven words are needed to define adequately the honour due to him. Seven is the number of completeness. He is being given praise equal to that offered to God the Father, just as in the hymn to the exalted Christ quoted by Paul in Philippians (Philippians 2:5-11).
This scene reminds us that this Book of Revelation has many characteristics of a liturgical book. We have already pointed out that the vision took place on ‘the Lord’s day’. In its order, its colour, its music, it offers a model for our liturgies on earth. These too should give praise and honour to God and the Lamb, with full participation by all present. Verses from this liturgy are used in the Evening Prayer of the Church every Tuesday.
A Countless Multitude (Fourth Sunday of Easter, Year C – Revelation 7:9, 14-17)
The first set of seven in Revelation, after the seven letters of chapters 2-3, is the breaking of the seven seals which extends over four chapters (4:1-8:1). In the long interval between the sixth and seventh seal, we return to our vision of heaven. A change has taken place; the difference is the presence of human beings in heaven. Previously these have been counted as numbering 144,000 from the tribes of Israel, but now we realise that they cannot be counted, so many are they. These are the martyrs and they come from every tribe and nation. They suffer no more; their state is described in words from Isaiah: they suffer neither hunger nor thirst (Isaiah 49:10). Once more Christ makes his appearance, this time not just as the Lamb but as their Shepherd. Again we note the parallel with John’s Gospel where we find the fullest self-description of Christ as the Good Shepherd (John 10:11-18).
Verses from this chapter are read annually on the Feast of All Saints and may well sound familiar. The vast numbers recorded remind us of the multitudes who have followed Christ, who are not listed in official lists of canonised saints; many of whom have given their lives in martyrdom. It is the vocation of every Christian to be a saint. It is the word that Paul uses when he addresses the Christians of Rome (Romans 1:7).
The New Creation (Fifth Sunday of Easter, Year C – Revelation 21:1-5)
Our Easter readings now jump forward to bring us to the final chapters of the book, which are concerned with the Easter victory of Christ. One of Paul’s answers to the question, ‘What happened for us in the death and resurrection of Christ?’ is that it was as if a new creation took place: ‘All things are made new’. Paul uses this image both in 2 Corinthians – ‘if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation’ (5:17) – and again in Galatians (Galatians 6:15). In this new creation, God makes his home on earth. In John’s Gospel, Jesus, speaking of the person who loves God, promised that he and the Father ‘will come to them and make our home with them’ (John 14:23). Much of this passage is an optional reading for funeral Masses. It is the good news of the gospel for those who mourn, assuring them that because of Christ, ‘death will be no more’.
The New Jerusalem (Sixth Sunday of Easter, Year C – Revelation 21:10-14, 22-23)
The prophecy of Ezekiel had ended with a vision of the new Jerusalem (48:30-35). Now John sees this Holy City coming down from heaven. Its name was, ‘The Lord is there’. We learn that the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb are its foundation stones. It had no need of any temple, unlike the cities of the Roman empire which had temples dedicated to the emperor. Its light was the glory of God and its lamp was the Lamb. We remember how, in the Gospel of John, Jesus proclaimed himself to be ‘the light of the world’ (8:12). This is the new Jerusalem which the Church, on its pilgrimage through this world, is striving to become. Paul too speaks of a ‘Jerusalem from above’ which is free and which is our mother (Galatians 4:26).
‘Amen, Come Lord Jesus’ (Seventh Sunday of Easter, Year C – Revelation 22: 12-14, 16-17, 20)
Our Easter readings from this book end with the final words of the whole Bible. Again it is Jesus himself who is speaking. He is ‘the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end’. He pronounces a final beatitude on those who will have the right to the tree of life (another reminiscence of Genesis [2:9]). The author replies with his own prayer: ‘Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!’ Here the reading ends. It omits the final verse of the book where John turns to his readers and gives them his own blessing: ‘The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints.’ Here we conclude our series of readings for Easter from this book, so positive and encouraging for those who have celebrated the death and resurrection of the Lord.
These readings from the Book of Revelation in Eastertide help us to adopt a positive view of this book. Just as the Book of Daniel in the Old Testament, with its strange beasts and astonishing imagery of youths surviving fiery furnaces and writing on the wall, was composed to console and encourage a people struggling against hostile powers, so this ‘apocalypse’ was composed to encourage and console. Some would say that it was directed against the powers and oppression of the Roman Empire; others, especially in medieval times, held that it was a prophecy of what was in store for the Church in the years to come. In our time, it can serve as a warning to us not to conform ourselves to the values of this earth alone, but to bear in mind the existence of a heavenly world above where God, Christ and his angels dwell. We are not alone in our conflict ‘against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places’ (Ephesians 6:12). The Christ who is ‘the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth’ says to each one of us: ‘fear not’.
Reading Further
We have looked at the seven readings from the Book of Revelation which we hear at our Sunday liturgies. A next stage is to read through the twelve readings from this book which are the first readings for the last two weeks of the two-year weekday cycle of the lectionary. These introduce us to other parts of the book. These include three of the seven letters to the churches (2:1-5; 3:1-6, 14-22), offer us two more views of the heavenly liturgy (4:1-11; 5:1-10), report John’s second call (10:8-11) and tell of the fate of the two olive trees which may symbolise the deaths of Peter and Paul (11:4-12). We hear the song of the 144,000 (14:1-5) and the song of Moses (15:1-4). We view the fall of Babylon which precedes the vision of the New Jerusalem (18:1-2, 21-23; 19:1-3, 9). After other final visions (20:1-4, 11-21:2), we conclude with an account of the river of life (22:1-7).
There are other passages from the book which we hear from time to time on days such as the Feasts of the Assumption (11:19-12:1-6) and of All Saints (7:2-4, 9-14). By including this material in her liturgy, the Church invites us to make this book our own, or, in the words of the book’s final chapter, says to us, ‘Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book’ (22:7). And we may well respond in prayer, as does the Church in her official prayer four evenings of the week as she joins in the hymns of the heavenly liturgy with selections from chapters 4-5, 11-12, 15 and 19. May we not only read this book, but experience the grace of the Risen Lord which it offers us.
Peter Edmonds SJ is a member of the Jesuit community at Stamford Hill, North London.
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