Revelation for Lent

Revelation for Lent

The Book of Revelation is a strange and wonderful text. Written at the end of the first century by a man named John, it calls the persecuted Church to fidelity to the Truth encouraging them with visions of the heavenly reward to come to those who persevere in faith. Indeed, the terrifying images of Satan and his followers and the descriptions of the judgement awaiting them should be enough to deter anyone considering a dalliance with the Devil. Unfortunately, it is this imagery which sticks in the mind and, together with the literary style, makes Revelation difficult to read.

For most Catholics, their experience of the text is the apocalyptic readings at weekday Masses at the end of the Church's year and the 'cut and paste' text from Chapter 12 read on the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. No wonder we find it scary. No wonder most Catholics would not miss this Book if it were to disappear from the end of Scripture never to be seen, or read, again. But, this is to ignore the obvious: the Book of Revelation is the end of Scripture. The story of salvation which began in Genesis with God's promise

  I will put enmity between you and the woman, 

and between your offspring and hers; 

he will strike your head, 

and you will strike his heel  (Gen 3:15)

comes to its glorious conclusion in Revelation. If you look at the Church's Liturgy, the largest section of text used on a regular basis occurs in Eastertide, in the Office of Readings, when the focus is on victory, salvation and resurrection to eternal life in a nuptial communion with the Lamb. There is nothing dark or scary here.

As I said at the start, Revelation was written during a time of persecution, when the temptation to compromise one's faith in order to avoid pain and death was great. Its call for 'patient endurance' and 'witness to Jesus' (1:9) are not irrelevant to us today. For a Lenten meditation, or simply an examination of conscience, you will find Revelation both illuminating and challenging.

Angels and Keys

There are two, related texts which speak about angels coming down from heaven with keys to the abyss.

I saw a star that had fallen from heaven to earth, 

and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit   (9:1)

In Revelation, 'stars' are symbols for angels. Here we have a star which has fallen from heaven, a fallen angel, one who rejected God and followed Satan. The 'bottomless pit', sometimes called the abyss, is the place in the deepest waters of the sea in which ancient peoples believed the monsters opposed to God dwelt. Now, notice the fallen angel was given the key to open the shaft to the abyss and unleash the forces of evil. There is no sense of rebellion here; the key is not taken by force, rather it is freely given, by God.

What does this mean? It means that rebellion against the will of God is part of his plan of salvation. We, and the angels, could have been created with only the ability to love and serve the Lord - like holy robots -  but this is not the way we have been made. Love which is programmed has no value; love which is freely given, and given to the full, is the most powerful force on earth; it transforms self and others. God created us as intelligent beings with free will; the will to love and serve and the will to reject and rebel. This ability to choose is essential to our human nature for without it we lack compassion and mercy and we cannot grow to be perfect as the Father is perfect (Mt 5:48). As Matthew reminds us, Jesus said Not everyone who says 'Lord, Lord' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven (Mt 7:21). 

Then I saw and angel coming down from heaven,

holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain.

He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the Devil and Satan,

and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit,

and locked and sealed it over him, so that he would deceive the nations no more,

until the thousand years were ended.

After that he must be let out for a little while.  (20:1-3)

First of all, forget about the 'thousand years' - there is probably a doctoral thesis in unpacking the many interpretations of it. Let's just say it means a period of time after the Crucifixion and before the Second Coming.. ..and no-one, not even Jesus, knows when that will be (Mt 24:36). Satan is conquered by the one called the 'Word of God' (19:13). When did this happen? Victory over sin and death was accomplished by Jesus through his death and resurrection. This is the moment at which the'ancient serpent's head was crushed; that fatal wound inflicted by the offspring of the woman; the victory which bound him in the pit. The Cross is the seal on the bottomless pit and Christ holds the keys to death and Hades (1:18).

Then, how can Satan get out of the pit? We let him out. We allow Satan into our lives and the effects of his works into our world every time we turn away from God. We allow him to create chaos, to cause division, to rule in this earthly realm every time we fail to forgive, we fail to reach out to those in need, we fail to love. The 'little while' of his activity will only end with the final judgement at the Second Coming but we can do our bit to curtail his influence by our 'patient endurance' of people and situations we find a trial and by our 'witness to Jesus', our fidelity to his truth and justice. We can release his transforming love into the world; we have that freedom and that power.

Amen. Come Lord Jesus!

The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints.

Amen. 

(22:20b-21)