Advent with the Book of Revelation (Ch 6)
December 06, 2024
Fr. John Colacino C.PP.S.

 

Revelation Ch 6 (Friday of the First Week of Advent)

 

Then I looked on as the Lamb opened one of the seven seals. I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, “Come!” So I looked, and there was a white horse. Its rider held a bow and was given a crown. And he went forth from victory to victory.

When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” Out came another horse, fiery red. Its rider was allowed to take peace from the earth so that people would kill each other. He was given a large sword.

When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” So I looked, and there was a black horse. Its rider held a balance for weighing in his hand. I heard what sounded like a voice from among the four living creatures. It said, “A quart of wheat for a denarion, and three quarts of barley for a denarion, but don’t damage the olive oil and the wine.”

When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” So I looked, and there was a pale green horse. Its rider’s name was Death, and the Grave was following right behind. They were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill by sword, famine, disease, and the wild animals of the earth.

When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar those who had been slaughtered on account of the word of God and the witness they had given. They cried out with a loud voice, “Holy and true Master, how long will you wait before you pass judgment? How long before you require justice for our blood, which was shed by those who live on earth?” Each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to rest a little longer, until their fellow servants and brothers and sisters—who were about to be killed as they were—were finished.

I looked on as he opened the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake. The sun became black as funeral clothing, and the entire moon turned red as blood. The stars of the sky fell to the earth as a fig tree drops its fruit when shaken by a strong wind. The sky disappeared like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved from its place. Then the kings of the earth, the officials and the generals, the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in caves and in the rocks of the mountains. They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one seated on the throne and from the Lamb’s wrath! The great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”

Commentary

Here, according to the mystical images of Revelation, Christ redescends from heaven to earth for this battle, and those who serve Him and do His work participate in it. On the one hand, there are those "that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held" (Rev. 6:9); they lament about themselves: "How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?" (6:10). On the other hand, these very same, together with those who did not worship the beast, participate in the first resurrection and reign upon the earth (20:4-5). Since the battle continues with growing intensity until the very end of history, it follows that Christ's royal ministry too is continuing and is not yet finished. 

The judgment is the theophany to the world of the Son sent by the Father in the Holy Spirit. Resurrection in incorruptibility and glorification is precisely the Last Judgment, in which creation appears before the face of God and sees itself in God. For the image of God, given to man at his creation, is also the judgment upon man in relation to his likeness, which is the realization of this image in creaturely freedom. The “likeness” is the book of life opened at the judgment. God’s image will be revealed to every human being by the Holy Spirit as inner justice and judgment for creaturely life. This judgment of Christ is also every human being’s own judgment upon himself. It consists in each person seeing himself in the light of his own justice, in the light of his proto-image, which he perceives in his resurrection under illumination by the Holy Spirit. The Judgment is the judgment of every human being in his true image upon himself in his “likeness.” As such, the judgment is self-evidently persuasive. This genuine image for every human being is Christ: The judgment consists in the fact that the light has come into the world (see John 3:19). “For judgment I am come into this world” (9:39).

Every human being sees himself in Christ and measures the extent of his difference from this proto-image. A human being cannot fail to love the Christ who is revealed in him, and he cannot fail to love himself revealed in Christ. The two things are the same. Such is human ontology. Love is the Holy Spirit, who sets the heart afire with this love. But this love, this blazing up of the Spirit, is also the judgment of the individual upon himself, his vision of himself outside himself, in conflict with himself, that is, outside Christ and far from Christ. And the measure and knowledge of this separation are determined by Love, that is, by the Holy Spirit. The same fire, the same love gladdens and burns, torments and gives joy. The judgment of love is the most terrible judgment, more terrible than that of justice and wrath, than that of the law, for it includes all this but also transcends it. … It is impossible to appear before Christ and to see Him without loving him. (Bride of the Lamb)

In any case, even with this first image of human history which we have in the symbolism of the seals, we must conclude that according to Revelation history is not an idyll, but a tragedy, a fight alongside Christ and for Christ against the forces of the prince of this world. (Apocalypse)

Musical Selection
 
 
Sub altáre Dei audívi voces occisórum dicéntium: * Quare non deféndis sánguinem nostrum? Et accepérunt divínum respónsum: Adhuc sústinete módicum tempus, donec impleátur númerus fratrum vestrórum. Vidi sub altáre Dei ánimas interfectórum propter verbum Dei, et propter testimónium quod habébant, et clamábant voce magna, dicéntes. Quare non deféndis sánguinem nostrum? Et accepérunt divínum respónsum: Adhuc sústinete módicum tempus, donec impleátur númerus fratrum vestrórum.
 
I heard under the altar the voices of them that were slain, saying: * How long dost Thou not avenge our blood? And it was said unto them from God: Rest yet for a little season, until the number of your brethren be fulfilled.
I saw under the altar of God the souls of them that were slain for the Word of God, and for the testimony which they held, and they cried with a loud voice, saying: How long dost Thou not avenge our blood? And it was said unto them from God: Rest yet for a little season, until the number of your brethren be fulfilled.
 
 
Collect
 
Stir up your power, Lord Jesus, and come.
Protect us from the menace of our sins,
release us from their grasp,
save us and set us free,
you who live and reign with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God for ever and ever. Amen.

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