Somewhat recently I finished an .mp3 series on the Book of Revelation. The seven-talk series, "Unveiling the Apocalype," was given by Fr. Alfred McBride, OPraem and one of the Catholic Courses. The imagery in the final book of the Bible is foreign, to say the least. Seven heads with seven crowns and four horsemen and the dragon? Well, okay, the symbolism of the dragon is pretty obvious. The rest of the imagery, however, can be less than obvious... hence my need for a survey of the book.
Rather than go into the decoding of Revelation, I'd rather write about the spiritual lessons that I gained from Fr. McBride's talk series.
1) One of the foundational paradoxes of Christianity is the cross and resurrection. Suffering and the promise of heaven. While the two concepts are opposed in human thinking, God has revealed and displayed them to be inseparable. St. John repeatedly reminds the reader of this, exhorting them to be "faithful unto death," after which believers will be given "the crown of life" (Rev 2:10, letter to the church at Smyrna). Suffering is a given in life, whether we face violent persecution or not. Our response to it can lead to heaven!
2) That leads into the second point, something most often forgotten in suffering: Jesus is never absent from His Church, His people. It's tempting to think that suffering is proof of God's absence; either He is indifferent, is otherwise busy, or does not care. That's a very understandable human reaction... do any of us like suffering? We wouldn't let our loved ones suffer if we could avoid it. So why would God Who IS love (1 John 4:8) let us suffer? This is something mysterious to us, but Jesus came to teach us and show us the way. He revealed to us that the way to the Father (=to heaven) is through Him (John 14:6); and in following Jesus, we must take up our cross as He took up His (Luke 9:23).
In the beginning of the book, however, St. John takes this idea deeper: "I John, your brother, who share with you in Jesus the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance..." (1:9). Jesus cannot be separated from His Church, His beloved Bride! He has preceded us in suffering: "we have not a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sinning. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need" (Heb 4:15-16). If we ever get tempted into thinking that Jesus didn't experience the level of our suffering? He felt the deep emotional pain of being abandoned and hated by the people he loved so dearly; he felt the physical pain of being tortured and killed in an agonizingly slow manner. I'd think He could understand our sufferings after going through that...
3) We cannot be indifferent to spiritual warfare. The war rages whether we act or not; indeed, our inaction is a weapon in the hand of the enemy. he who has been cast down into the pit (whose name I won't type) is aggressive and seeks humanity's destruction. St. Peter saw this, warning of a "roaring lion, looking for someone to devour" (1 Peter 5:8). Revelation 12 describes the evil one as coming "down to you in great wrath"; he is not a harmless, red, horned sprite.
4) There are great catastrophes depicted in Revelation, with the four horsemen (ch. 6), seven seals (ch. 6-8), and seven trumpets (ch. 8-10, 11:15ff). This echoes back to #2 above, why would God let humanity suffer such a fate? It's important to see these catastrophes as calls to conversion. It's also important to note that the tribulations are not penned by a capricious God. Much of these judgments were consequences of sin and of human free will.
Stay tuned for part 2...
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