November 29, 2008
Saturday of the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
Then the angel showed me the river of life-giving water, sparkling like crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of its street. Revelation 22:1-2
Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man. Luke 21:36
Piety
Lord, give us the strength to escape the tribulations in our life so that we may stand before you and look upon your face. Until then, help us to see your presence in the faces of our sisters and brothers who reach out to us in their time of need. Help us to help those who are unable to reach out to us. Amen.
Study
Connections abound today between so much of what has come before as well as what will come as we look ahead to Advent. As the liturgical year ends today, we feast upon images culled from the very beginning of the Biblical history – images of God’s first two creations from Genesis: light and water.
In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless wasteland, and darkness covered the abyss, while a mighty wind swept over the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw how good the light was. God then separated the light from the darkness. Genesis 1:1-4
Then God said, “Let there be a dome in the middle of the waters, to separate one body of water from the other.” And so it happened: God made the dome, and it separated the water above the dome from the water below it. Genesis 1:6-7
Today, St. John shares his final vision with us in Revelation 22. We learn when creation reaches perfection in the fullness of time, that “Night will be no more, nor will they need light from lamp or sun, for the Lord God shall give them light, and they shall reign forever and ever.”
The life-giving waters return, conquering man’s sin and evil in the world. The waters are overflowing with God’s grace wherever they reach. No container can hold them as they flow down the streets.
This triumph is a far cry from the visions of blood, not life-giving water that fill the streets as we read in the book of the prophet Ezekiel. I will be glorified in your midst. Then they shall know that I am the LORD, when I inflict punishments upon it and use it to manifest my holiness. Into it I will send pestilence, and blood shall flow in its streets. Within it shall fall those slain by the sword that comes against it from every side. Thus they shall know that I am the LORD. Ezekiel 28:22-23
Later, the vision of pestilence and violence gives way to a vision that is recalled in Revelation -- the vision of the life-giving waters.
Then he brought me back to the door of the temple; and behold, water was issuing from below the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east); and the water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar. Then he brought me out by way of the north gate, and led me round on the outside to the outer gate, that faces toward the east; and the water was coming out on the south side. Ezekiel 47:1-2
The prophet Zechariah also had a vision of such life-giving waters and the end of night (darkness which symbolizes conquering evil).
“On that day there shall be neither cold nor frost. And there shall be continuous day (it is known to the LORD), not day and not night, for at evening time there shall be light. On that day living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea and half of them to the western sea; it shall continue in summer as in winter. And the LORD will become king over all the earth; on that day the LORD will be one and his name one.” Zechariah 14:6-9
Such life-giving waters are not just the topic of visions. They also are the real promise of Jesus to the woman at the well and to the disciples in the Gospel of John. Jesus said to the Samaritan woman, “Every one who drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst; the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” This promise left her wanting such water. “Sir, give me this water that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.” John 4:10-15
On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and proclaimed, “If any one thirst, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, 'Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.” John 7:37-38. From his pierced side on the cross, those waters replaced the blood of the Lamb and began to flow.
So as St. John returns to these images of life and light, he is addressing topics which his audience would well know. The vision of the fulfillment of these promises also comes to us in today’s Gospel along with a warning not to stray from the path Jesus points out through drunkenness, anxiety or laziness. If we hold fast to this life, then it will be rewarded with the pearl of all promises…the chance to stand before the Lord in his physical presence. Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God. (Matthew 5:8)
Action
As we celebrate another holiday weekend designed to give thanks, we are jolted to consciousness by the continued violence which we do not welcome in the world. A Brooklyn rabbi and his wife who moved to India to start a Jewish center and the Virginia man and his daughter are the latest victims of terrorism which continues to invade our world. Blood flowed in the streets of Mumbai, India. Not far away, anti-government protestors had seized control of two airports in Thailand by staging a massive, non-violent sit-in. The New York Times reports:
Weary of antigovernment protesters who have paralyzed Bangkok’s two commercial airports with mass sit-ins, Thailand’s prime minister announced an emergency decree on Thursday that authorized the police and some military units to evict them. The order by the prime minister, Somchai Wongsawat, raised the prospect of arrests and violence if the demonstrators refused to leave. The airport protests, which began Tuesday night, have shut down Bangkok, the capital, to air commerce and elevated the antigovernment protests here to a national crisis.
As we long to look on the face of the Prince of Peace in the approach of Advent, we are reminded that the prophecy of the living water and the end of night is not yet a reality. Still we must struggle. Although we are not in Mumbai or Bangkok, we still must struggles with the violence and selfishness in our midst. Despite a financial crisis which had promised to dampen consumer spending on the high holy day of Consumerism, a worker in a Wal-Mart store was trampled to death by bargain hunting shoppers who put their wallet ahead of the life and safety of those around them.
ENOUGH! Say “Enough!” to this madness, of this madness. As a New (liturgical) Year’s Resolution, vow to make your holiday season holy. Opt for giving away to thrift stores and homeless shelters rather than hunting and gathering more affluence this year. You’ll never miss what the Salvation Army, Yesterday’s Rose or the Clock Tower Thrift shops can offer to their clients. Opt also, to make gifts to give to those close to your heart this year. Take a holiday from materialism.
Saturday of the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
Then the angel showed me the river of life-giving water, sparkling like crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of its street. Revelation 22:1-2
Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man. Luke 21:36
Piety
Lord, give us the strength to escape the tribulations in our life so that we may stand before you and look upon your face. Until then, help us to see your presence in the faces of our sisters and brothers who reach out to us in their time of need. Help us to help those who are unable to reach out to us. Amen.
Study
Connections abound today between so much of what has come before as well as what will come as we look ahead to Advent. As the liturgical year ends today, we feast upon images culled from the very beginning of the Biblical history – images of God’s first two creations from Genesis: light and water.
In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless wasteland, and darkness covered the abyss, while a mighty wind swept over the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw how good the light was. God then separated the light from the darkness. Genesis 1:1-4
Then God said, “Let there be a dome in the middle of the waters, to separate one body of water from the other.” And so it happened: God made the dome, and it separated the water above the dome from the water below it. Genesis 1:6-7
Today, St. John shares his final vision with us in Revelation 22. We learn when creation reaches perfection in the fullness of time, that “Night will be no more, nor will they need light from lamp or sun, for the Lord God shall give them light, and they shall reign forever and ever.”
The life-giving waters return, conquering man’s sin and evil in the world. The waters are overflowing with God’s grace wherever they reach. No container can hold them as they flow down the streets.
This triumph is a far cry from the visions of blood, not life-giving water that fill the streets as we read in the book of the prophet Ezekiel. I will be glorified in your midst. Then they shall know that I am the LORD, when I inflict punishments upon it and use it to manifest my holiness. Into it I will send pestilence, and blood shall flow in its streets. Within it shall fall those slain by the sword that comes against it from every side. Thus they shall know that I am the LORD. Ezekiel 28:22-23
Later, the vision of pestilence and violence gives way to a vision that is recalled in Revelation -- the vision of the life-giving waters.
Then he brought me back to the door of the temple; and behold, water was issuing from below the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east); and the water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar. Then he brought me out by way of the north gate, and led me round on the outside to the outer gate, that faces toward the east; and the water was coming out on the south side. Ezekiel 47:1-2
The prophet Zechariah also had a vision of such life-giving waters and the end of night (darkness which symbolizes conquering evil).
“On that day there shall be neither cold nor frost. And there shall be continuous day (it is known to the LORD), not day and not night, for at evening time there shall be light. On that day living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea and half of them to the western sea; it shall continue in summer as in winter. And the LORD will become king over all the earth; on that day the LORD will be one and his name one.” Zechariah 14:6-9
Such life-giving waters are not just the topic of visions. They also are the real promise of Jesus to the woman at the well and to the disciples in the Gospel of John. Jesus said to the Samaritan woman, “Every one who drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst; the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” This promise left her wanting such water. “Sir, give me this water that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.” John 4:10-15
On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and proclaimed, “If any one thirst, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, 'Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.” John 7:37-38. From his pierced side on the cross, those waters replaced the blood of the Lamb and began to flow.
So as St. John returns to these images of life and light, he is addressing topics which his audience would well know. The vision of the fulfillment of these promises also comes to us in today’s Gospel along with a warning not to stray from the path Jesus points out through drunkenness, anxiety or laziness. If we hold fast to this life, then it will be rewarded with the pearl of all promises…the chance to stand before the Lord in his physical presence. Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God. (Matthew 5:8)
Action
As we celebrate another holiday weekend designed to give thanks, we are jolted to consciousness by the continued violence which we do not welcome in the world. A Brooklyn rabbi and his wife who moved to India to start a Jewish center and the Virginia man and his daughter are the latest victims of terrorism which continues to invade our world. Blood flowed in the streets of Mumbai, India. Not far away, anti-government protestors had seized control of two airports in Thailand by staging a massive, non-violent sit-in. The New York Times reports:
Weary of antigovernment protesters who have paralyzed Bangkok’s two commercial airports with mass sit-ins, Thailand’s prime minister announced an emergency decree on Thursday that authorized the police and some military units to evict them. The order by the prime minister, Somchai Wongsawat, raised the prospect of arrests and violence if the demonstrators refused to leave. The airport protests, which began Tuesday night, have shut down Bangkok, the capital, to air commerce and elevated the antigovernment protests here to a national crisis.
As we long to look on the face of the Prince of Peace in the approach of Advent, we are reminded that the prophecy of the living water and the end of night is not yet a reality. Still we must struggle. Although we are not in Mumbai or Bangkok, we still must struggles with the violence and selfishness in our midst. Despite a financial crisis which had promised to dampen consumer spending on the high holy day of Consumerism, a worker in a Wal-Mart store was trampled to death by bargain hunting shoppers who put their wallet ahead of the life and safety of those around them.
ENOUGH! Say “Enough!” to this madness, of this madness. As a New (liturgical) Year’s Resolution, vow to make your holiday season holy. Opt for giving away to thrift stores and homeless shelters rather than hunting and gathering more affluence this year. You’ll never miss what the Salvation Army, Yesterday’s Rose or the Clock Tower Thrift shops can offer to their clients. Opt also, to make gifts to give to those close to your heart this year. Take a holiday from materialism.
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