Saturday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 502

Then they heard a loud voice from heaven say to them, “Come up here.”
So they went up to heaven in a cloud as their enemies looked on.

Today's first reading from the Book of Revelation is as difficult and cryptic as a passage can be. It was surely understood by its intended readers. We can only try to grasp what they already knew, and read it with those understandings. 

First, we know that Revelation was intended for Christians and nor for strangers or enemies. It is a word of reassurance for Christians; they will survive the oppression of enemies and the indifference of strangers. Their persevering faith will be recognized, appreciated, and rewarded. It is pointless and silly to warn non-Christians with these messages which are intended for our eyes only. 

"Who are the two prophets?" Why are they like two olive trees and two lamp stands. I suppose there were olive trees -- which live for centuries -- planted in front of the Jerusalem temple. They were clearly visible by day, and the lamps burned brightly by night. The trees and flames, like the sanctuary lamp in the Catholic church's sanctuary, represent the permanent presence of God in our world. These trees, lamps, and witnesses represent the Word of the Lord which abides forever.

I was reminded recently that Greek philosophy understood the sublunary world as the place of chronos, linear time as we understand it. They imagined the universe as concentric spheres with the globe of our Earth in the core of these heavenly spheres. The moon was attached to its crystal clear lunary sphere, and everything within it was sublunary. This is the place governed by chronological time, chronos. 

The stars are fixed to their outermost spheres, while wandering stars (planets) are fixed to inner spheres. These outer spheres are governed by kairos, an immeasurable, infinite time of the ever-present Now; that is, God's time. Nothing changes there.  

Anyone who wants to know what's really going on ponders eternity and its governance of our limited, sequential, secular world, where nothing abides forever except the eternal Word of God. 

These witnesses, sent from the Truth which is unchanging and reliable, have certain biblical powers to prove their authenticity. Like Elijah, they can "close up the sky so that no rain can fall during the time of their prophesying." They're also like Moses who had the "power to turn water into blood and to afflict the earth with any plague as often as they wish." 

The beast who destroys the witness rules this world. Didn't he tell Jesus, "“All these nations I shall give to you, if you will prostrate yourself and worship me?” Satan supposes he governs this world, and Jesus doesn't contradict him. Revelation, in chapter 12, recalls Saint Michael's purifying the heavens -- the outer spheres -- when he hurled Satan and his minions down to the earth, where they would harass the Virgin Mother and her children for a limited time. They're still here, even as we pray that God's will "be done on earth as it is in heaven."

The denizens of this world, governed by Satan, celebrate the death of the two witnesses with great festivity. They're not at all saddened by the loss of the Truth or the reminders of eternity, judgment, and the Kingdom of God. Their festivities suggest an alternate eternity, a timeless earth where no one ages, sickens, or dies; where the poor are never restless, and the wealthy are free do whatever tickles their fancy. There are no consequences for evil in that fantasy world, nor rewards for virtue. 

However, these earthen people are appalled when the corpses of the witness are reanimated and ascend into heaven -- "Great fear fell on those who saw them." The resurrection and ascension of the witnesses re  call the triumphant resurrection and ascension of Jesus; and the peoples of earth are again reminded of eternity and its truth. 

Finally, the devout might ask, "Is that really the way it is? Does Satan govern this world, and are all the people who do not listen to Christian witnesses doomed?" 

Our religion is more than a set of rules about doing good and avoiding evil. Is anyone so clever as to know always what is good and what is evil? The Book of Revelation reminds us that we cannot ignore or dismiss Apocalypse; it pervades the four Gospels and much of the New Testament. 

On this day before the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, we do well to ponder the apocalyptic passages of the scriptures, and to remember that the kingdom, the power, and the glory, though delayed, will come.