The Incredulity of Saint Thomas, Caravaggio,
c. 1603, Sanssouci, Potsdam, Germany
(About this Image)
Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands,
and bring your hand and put it into my side,
and do not be unbelieving, but believe.”
Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
(John 20:27–28)
Fr. Smith’s Commentary on the Second Reading
Second Sunday of Easter
Revelations: 1:9–19
April 24, 2022
The “Book of Revelation” is a source of great confusion and imaginative if usually erroneous speculation. Some of the latter has been so amusing that the great English convert and writer G. K. Chesterton wrote: “Though St John the Evangelist saw many strange monsters in his vision, he saw no creature so wild as one of his own commentators.” (Chesterton, Orthodoxy) This is quite unfortunate as Revelations has much to offer us, indeed some of it very practical and contemporary.
The place to begin is with its very name. It is often called “The Apocalypse.” In popular usage, this means the end times with usually a bloody conflagration. The original meaning, however, is “unveiling.” This was a genre of writing. A person would read an apocalypse not to be confused or bewildered about the future, but to be instructed on how to live now and prepare for the future. The Christians who originally read “The Book of Revelation” would have expected to have layers of misinformation and fake news unraveled and true meaning revealed. The images that we find so bewildering and intimidating would have been part of their culture. If there was any attempt to mystify or obscure, it would have been not for fellow Christians but for the Roman authorities. This was during a time of Roman persecution. The closest analogy I can think of is video games. Our younger parishioners know every character and devise in them, but they are a total mystery to me. They are the Christians, and I am the Roman authority. We see further difficulty if we imagine someone trying to decipher Minecraft a millennium hence. Similarly,some parts of “The Book of Revelation” will remain obscure. The sections chosen for our Easter readings; however, are not among them and their message will be truly clear: the resurrection of Jesus unveils the meaning of all history and existence.
Continue reading “Second Sunday of Easter – Understanding Our Lives through the Resurrection”
