The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to contemplate a vision of the troubles in our home, the earth, that remind us of the troubles and tribulation associated with the end times.
Times of turmoil
The reading from the Book of Revelation is a vision of the Fall of Rome, portrayed as Babylon, that initiates rejoicing in Heaven.
* [18:1–19:4] A stirring dirge over the fall of Babylon-Rome. The perspective is prophetic, as if the fall of Rome had already taken place. The imagery here, as elsewhere in this book, is not to be taken literally. The vindictiveness of some of the language, borrowed from the scathing Old Testament prophecies against Babylon, Tyre, and Nineveh (Is 23; 24; 27; Jer 50–51; Ez 26–27), is meant to portray symbolically the inexorable demands of God’s holiness and justice; cf. Introduction. The section concludes with a joyous canticle on the future glory of heaven.1
Psalm 100 declares that all lands are summoned to praise God.
* [Psalm 100] A hymn inviting the people to enter the Temple courts with thank offerings for the God who created them.2
In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus foretells the destruction of Jerusalem and the coming of the Son of Man.
* [21:24] The times of the Gentiles: a period of indeterminate length separating the destruction of Jerusalem from the cosmic signs accompanying the coming of the Son of Man.3
Tom Quinn comments that all of the readings today indicate that the life of “Babylon” will be destroyed, but how are we, meanwhile, to find respite from that life? Jesus warns us in the Gospel of calamities that will befall the “city “(i.e., our way of life). He tells us to flee to the solitude of the mountains; leave the turmoil of the city; stay in the countryside; and do not enter the city.
Like Jesus often did, we need to find time alone for prayer and reflection. Jesus tells us that the times of punishment when the scriptures are fulfilled will cause some people to die of fright. He promises one thing to assuage our fear during those times. He has promised to come to us in power and glory. His promise is redemption. Stand erect, and raise your heads! Whatever calamity befalls us, we will be ready, and we will be saved. God has promised this.4
Don Schwager quotes “The signs have been accomplished,” by Saint Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.
"The signs given in the Gospel and in prophecy and fulfilled in us show the coming of the Lord... We know that the coming is near by the fact that we see the fulfillment of certain signs of that coming that have been accomplished... The signs that Christ told them to look for are listed in the Gospel of Saint Luke: 'Jerusalem will be trampled down by the Gentiles until the times of the nations are fulfilled.' This has happened and no one doubts that it has happened... It is plain that there is no country or place in our time that is not harassed or humbled according to the words 'for fear and expectation of what will come on the whole world.' All the signs that the gospel describes in the earlier verses have mostly been accomplished." (excerpt from Letter 198)5
The Word Among Us Meditation on Revelation 18:1-2, 21-23; 19:1-3, 9 notes that the Church teaches that the liturgy “anticipates the wedding feast of the Lamb in the heavenly Jerusalem” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1329). And in today’s passage, the angel tells us, “Blessed are those who have been called to the wedding feast of the Lamb” (Revelation 19:9). We are the blessed ones whom God is calling!
What an incredible gift we have been given, that the God who created the world declares his love to us in such a powerful way! So don’t let Mass become routine for you. Don’t forget what is actually happening at the liturgy. Instead, think of that married couple who are still deeply in love after many years together. As they would to one another, renew your vows to God. Then as you receive Jesus’ Body and Blood, let him show you just how deeply you are loved by your Lord. “Jesus, thank you for inviting me to the wedding feast!”6
Friar Jude Winkler notes that Babylon is code for Rome in Revelation. In Rome the voice of the bride and bridegroom is no longer heard. There is no future. The Day of the Lord brings fear and joy. Friar Jude considers the situation of the followers of Jesus and those who have rejected him.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, shares Sister Kathleen Deignan’s (Theologian and GreenFaith fellow ) selections from Thomas Merton’s journals that demonstrate how his love for nature (he even calls the forest his “bride”) leads him to grieve and denounce nature’s abuse.
I love the woods, particularly around the hermitage. Know every tree, every animal, every bird. [3] When I am most sickened by the things that are done by the country that surrounds this place I will take out the [Hebrew biblical] prophets and sing them in loud Latin across the hills and send their fiery words sailing south over the mountains to the place where they split atoms for the bombs in Tennessee. There is also the non-ecology, the destructive unbalance of nature, poisoned and unsettled by bombs, by fallout, by exploitation: the land ruined, the waters contaminated, the soil charged with chemicals, ravaged with machinery, the houses of farmers falling apart because everybody goes to the city and stays there . . .7
Fr. Richard reflects it is passages such as these which let us know why he considers Merton a primary teacher of the spiritual life especially for our time. We need only to consider nature from Merton’s point of view to realize the tribulation and destruction that humans have brought to Creation are reflected in the description of the end times in Scripture.
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