Daily Retreat 11/19/08

2008 Nov 19 Wed: Ordinary Weekday
Rv 4: 1-11/ Ps 150: 1b-2. 3-4. 5-6/ Lk 19: 11-28

From today’s readings:  “Worthy are You, Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things; because of Your will they came to be and were created....  Praise the LORD in His sanctuary, praise Him in the firmament of His strength....  When he returned after obtaining the kingship, he had the servants called, to whom he had given the money, to learn what they had gained by trading.”

Heavenly Liturgy

As mentioned, the Book of Revelation is the most mysterious and cryptic book of the Bible, so an adequate grasp of the structure of the book is essential as a basic “roadmap” for seeing how the pieces fit together.  Here’s one very simple but helpful outline:

        A. Introduction and Initial Vision (ch. 1)
        B. Letters to the Seven Churches (ch. 2 - 3)
        C. Central Prophetic Visions
             i.  Overture: Heavenly Worship (ch. 4 - 5)
             ii. Preludes to the Universal Climatic Struggle (6:1 - 11:14)
             iii. Climatic Struggle between Good and Evil (11:15 - 20:15)
             iv. New Creation (21:1 - 22:5)
        D. Closing (22:5 - 22:21)

Chapters Four and Five, which portray a beautiful vision of the liturgy and worship in Heaven, are thus the fundamental reference for the heart of the Apocalypse.  Read these chapters through several times, and note especially what traces of the Heavenly liturgy are echoed in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass!