The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place; he made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of the prophecy, and blessed are those who hear and who keep what is written in it; for the time is near. John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. Look! He is coming with the clouds; every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail. So it is to be. Amen. ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega’, says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.(Revelation 1:1-8)
RESPONSORY
Christ loved us, and poured out his blood to free us from our sins. - He has made of us a kingdom of priests.
Live then in love, even as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us. - He has made of us a kingdom of priests.
(Year C) From the “Commentary on the Apocalypse” by Abbot Rupert of Deutz (+1129)
He has made us a royal race of priests to the honour of God, his Father. In this text Scripture shows us Christ’s marvellous kindness and condescension. Our minds are too limited to grasp a statement of such magnitude, our tongues too weak to render adequate praise. The truth is that when Christ bought us at such great cost to himself - at the cost indeed of his most precious blood - it was not with the intention of making us his slaves; his purpose was to create a royal race of priests to the honour of God his Father. We were to be his Father’s kingdom, and priests in the service of God. He alone was King and Priest in his own right, yet he resolved to make kings of the slaves of sin and priests of the children of death. To that end he shed his blood. O Lord our God, how wonderful is your name, how wonderful the majesty and honour with which you have crowned the Lord Jesus as King of kings! You have set on his head the crowns of all those kings who form your kingdom, for yours is a kingdom of kings, resplendent in their regalia, each consecrated to you by the blood of Christ. We are also told that he has made us priests who share in that sacrifice by which Christ himself triumphed over the devil and so destroyed the dominion of sin. We do not all possess the fullness of the priesthood here on earth, with the power to bring about the real presence of our Lord’s body and blood by pronouncing the words of consecration, but all of us are called to exercise a priestly function by offering ourselves to God according to that exhortation of the Apostle Paul: I beseech you to present your bodies to God as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to him, since this is the service required of rational beings. In no other way shall we be permitted to enter into the celestial Holy of Holies, by which I mean heaven itself. In heaven the sacramental species of bread and wine, which constitute our present sacrifice, will find no place. None of us, however, will ever lack matter for sacrifice there. Our lips will always be able to offer a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, a hymn of rejoicing and the proclamation of God’s mighty works. Indeed the next verse from the Apocalypse supplies us with a model for such a heavenly sacrifice in the acclamation: Glory and power to him for ever and ever! Amen. And this is certainly what the law of justice requires of us, namely, that creatures should return thanks and praise to their creator for all the benefits they have received. As an example, we can take Moses and the children of Israel. When they had been delivered from bondage in Egypt by the immolation of the passover lamb, and had seen Pharaoh and his army drowned in the Red Sea, they sang a canticle of praise to the Lord. To keep one’s mouth closed and to silence one’s tongue, instead of voicing one’s thanks in acknowledgment of a favour received, is a sure sign of ingratitude. Therefore when John intones this short hymn of praise and thanksgiving, Glory and power to him forever and ever! let us all reply: Amen. In the words of the Apostle Paul: Let every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
Musical Selection
Sanguis tuus, Dómine, peccátum de peccáto damnans in mortem, *Pópulo det redémpto, ut a peccáto liber, et ab hoste sit secúrus. V. In quo nos Deo nostro fecísti regnum et sacerdótes, sanguis tuus, Dómine, ne pereámus cum ímpiis. *Pópulo det redémpto.
To deal with sin condemning sin to death, *May your blood, Lord, grant to the people you have redeemed that they be free from sin and safe from the enemy. V. Your blood, Lord, with which you have made us a kingdom and priests for our God, lest we perish with the wicked. *May your blood.
Collect
O God,
for your own glory and the salvation of the human race
you appointed Christ as eternal high priest;
grant that by sharing in his memorial
the people he purchased for you by his blood
may know the power of his cross and resurrection.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God for ever and ever. Amen.(Votive Mass of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Eternal High Priest)