Daily Retreat 11/17/08
2008 Nov 17 Mon: Elizabeth of Hungary, mw, r M
Rv 1: 1-4; 2: 1-5/ Ps 1: 1-2. 3. 4 and 6/ Lk 18: 35-43
From today’s readings: “Blessed are those who listen to this prophetic message and heed what is written in it, for the appointed time is near.... The LORD watches over the way of the just, but the way of the wicked vanishes.... As Jesus approached Jericho a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging, and hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what was happening....”
Approaching the End
The Apocalypse, also known as the Book of Revelation, is, without a doubt, the most mysterious, cryptic book of the Bible. For this reason, it’s the most likely to be misunderstood. There is no book in the Bible that more needs a little warning label on the outside that says: “Do not read without taking the time to study, and having a road map to see how all the pieces fit together in the book of Revelation!”
The basic problem is that the Apocalypse is a revealing glimpse of Heaven, and Heaven is beyond time and space. But since the whole of our human experience is constrained to time and space, the book’s descriptions of Heavenly realities are necessarily couched in imaginative and figurative terms that challenge us to stretch beyond the time and space limitations of our present existence.
Nonetheless, don’t think I’m discouraging you from reading this last book (or any other book!) of the Bible - I would never do that! But it’s important that as we read the lectionary excerpts of this book for the next two weeks, you and I do so carefully, always resisting the urge to jump to conclusions about the mysteries of Revelation.
Rv 1: 1-4; 2: 1-5/ Ps 1: 1-2. 3. 4 and 6/ Lk 18: 35-43
From today’s readings: “Blessed are those who listen to this prophetic message and heed what is written in it, for the appointed time is near.... The LORD watches over the way of the just, but the way of the wicked vanishes.... As Jesus approached Jericho a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging, and hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what was happening....”
Approaching the End
The Apocalypse, also known as the Book of Revelation, is, without a doubt, the most mysterious, cryptic book of the Bible. For this reason, it’s the most likely to be misunderstood. There is no book in the Bible that more needs a little warning label on the outside that says: “Do not read without taking the time to study, and having a road map to see how all the pieces fit together in the book of Revelation!”
The basic problem is that the Apocalypse is a revealing glimpse of Heaven, and Heaven is beyond time and space. But since the whole of our human experience is constrained to time and space, the book’s descriptions of Heavenly realities are necessarily couched in imaginative and figurative terms that challenge us to stretch beyond the time and space limitations of our present existence.
Nonetheless, don’t think I’m discouraging you from reading this last book (or any other book!) of the Bible - I would never do that! But it’s important that as we read the lectionary excerpts of this book for the next two weeks, you and I do so carefully, always resisting the urge to jump to conclusions about the mysteries of Revelation.
posted by FrPitstick | 11/15/2008
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