November 21, 2012

Memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Read more about the presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Lectionary: 499

Reading 1 from St. John's book of Revelations
Rv 4:1-11

I, John, had a vision of an open door to heaven,and I heard the trumpetlike voicethat had spoken to me before, saying,"Come up here and I will show you what must happen afterwards."

The open door to heaven, is the Mass.  Jesus is telling St. John to come to the Mass and enter heaven.

At once I was caught up in spirit.
A throne was there in heaven, and on the throne sat one
whose appearance sparkled like jasper and carnelian.

As soon as he obeyed, St. John was caught up in the Spirit of God and saw the Throne of God and on it was sitting Jesus in all resplendance.

Around the throne was a halo as brilliant as an emerald.
Surrounding the throne I saw twenty-four other thrones
on which twenty-four elders sat,
dressed in white garments and with gold crowns on their heads.

Around the Throne were twenty four Saints sitting on thrones of their own.

From the throne came flashes of lightning,
rumblings, and peals of thunder.
Seven flaming torches burned in front of the throne,
which are the seven spirits of God.
In front of the throne was something that resembled
a sea of glass like crystal.

There are many symbols here.  I believe the torches and spirits represent the Churches of God and their Pastors.  I don't know what the sea of glass represents.

In the center and around the throne,
there were four living creatures
covered with eyes in front and in back.
The first creature resembled a lion, the second was like a calf,
the third had a face like that of a man,
and the fourth looked like an eagle in flight.
The four living creatures, each of them with six wings,
were covered with eyes inside and out.
Day and night they do not stop exclaiming:

These creatures, I believe, are Seraphim.  The burning angels of God which reside closest to Him.

"Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty,
who was, and who is, and who is to come."
Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks
to the one who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever,
the twenty-four elders fall down
before the one who sits on the throne
and worship him, who lives forever and ever.
They throw down their crowns before the throne, exclaiming:
"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."

This is the heavenly Liturgy, which we join in when we celebrate the Mass.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 150:1b-2, 3-4, 5-6

R. (1b) Holy, holy, holy Lord, mighty God!

Praise the LORD in his sanctuary,
praise him in the firmament of his strength.
Praise him for his mighty deeds,
praise him for his sovereign majesty.

R. Holy, holy, holy Lord, mighty God!

Praise him with the blast of the trumpet,
praise him with lyre and harp,
Praise him with timbrel and dance,
praise him with strings and pipe.

R. Holy, holy, holy Lord, mighty God!

Praise him with sounding cymbals,
praise him with clanging cymbals.
Let everything that has breath
praise the LORD! Alleluia.

R. Holy, holy, holy Lord, mighty God!

This is the will of God which we pray shall be done on earth and in heaven.  In heaven, the Angels and Saints continually praise and worship God.  We should do so on earth as well:

Luke 11:2
And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. Luke
Lk 19:11-28

While people were listening to Jesus speak,he proceeded to tell a parable because he was near Jerusalemand they thought that the Kingdom of Godwould appear there immediately.

Jesus began a lesson directed at those who thought that the Kingdom of God would appear immediately.

So he said,
"A nobleman went off to a distant country
to obtain the kingship for himself and then to return.

The nobleman is Jesus.
His departure to a far country is His ascension to sit at the right hand of God.

He called ten of his servants and gave them ten gold coins
and told them, 'Engage in trade with these until I return.'

The ten servants are Christians.
The ten coins are God's grace, the gift of faith.

His fellow citizens, however, despised him
and sent a delegation after him to announce,
'We do not want this man to be our king.'

His fellow citizens are the Jews.  They are the ones who said:

Mark 15:12-13
King James Version (KJV)
12 And Pilate answered and said again unto them, What will ye then that I shall do unto him whom ye call the King of the Jews?
13 And they cried out again, Crucify him.

But 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.

This is the first resurrection.  Christ returns to judge first, the Church:

Revelation 20:4-6
King James Version (KJV)
4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

The first came forward and said,
'Sir, your gold coin has earned ten additional ones.'
He replied, 'Well done, good servant!

The first Christian shows Our Lord what he has done with the faith he was given.

You have been faithful in this very small matter;
take charge of ten cities.'

Christ rewards him abundantly.  He is saved.

Then the second came and reported,
'Your gold coin, sir, has earned five more.'
And to this servant too he said,
'You, take charge of five cities.'
Then the other servant came and said,

The next Christian has also put his faith to work and produced much but not as much as the first.  He is also rewarded abundantly, but not as much as the first.  And he is also saved.

'Sir, here is your gold coin;
I kept it stored away in a handkerchief,
for I was afraid of you, because you are a demanding man;
you take up what you did not lay down
and you harvest what you did not plant.'
He said to him,
'With your own words I shall condemn you,
you wicked servant.
You knew I was a demanding man,
taking up what I did not lay down
and harvesting what I did not plant;
why did you not put my money in a bank?
Then on my return I would have collected it with interest.'
And to those standing by he said,
'Take the gold coin from him
and give it to the servant who has ten.'

The third did nothing, either good or bad with the faith he was given.  This is faith alone.  And he was condemned.

But they said to him,
'Sir, he has ten gold coins.'
He replied, 'I tell you,
to everyone who has, more will be given,
but from the one who has not,
even what he has will be taken away.

Those who prove their faith in works of love will be saved.  Those who do not, will be condemned.

Now as for those enemies of mine who did not want me as their king,
bring them here and slay them before me.'"

Those who rejected God outright will be cast into the Lake of Fire.

After thinking about it a bit, there seems to be a difference between those with faith alone and those who reject Christ outright.  Perhaps they go to Purgatory where they are punished and those who reject Christ outright go straight to eternal punishment.

After he had said this,
he proceeded on his journey up to Jerusalem.

And then Jesus continued on His way.

Sincerely,

De Maria