Replies

From: Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14

The Great Multitude of the Saved

[2] Then I (John) saw another angel ascend from the rising of the sun,
with the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to
the four angels who had been given power to harm earth and sea,
[3] saying, "Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, till we
have sealed the servants of our God upon their foreheads." [4] And I
heard the number of the sealed, a hundred and forty-four thousand
sealed, out of every tribe of the sons of Israel.

[9] After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no man
could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and
tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in
white robes, with palm branches in their hands, [10] and crying out
with a loud voice, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits upon the
throne, and to the Lamb!" [11] And all the angels stood round the
throne and round the elders and the four living creatures, and they
fell on their faces before the throne and worshipped God, [12] saying,
"Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and
power and might be to our God for ever and ever! Amen."

[13] Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, "Who are these,
clothed in white robes, and whence have they come?" [14] I said to him,
"Sir, you know." And he said to me, "These are they who have come out
of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them
white in the blood of the Lamb."

Commentary:

1-17. This chapter consists of two visions designed to illustrate God's
protection of Christians and the happy circumstances of the martyrs.
The victory of the Church is depicted--of the entire Church, made up of
people from the four points of the compass (vv. 9-12). What is not so
clear, however, is who the one hundred and fort four thousand are,
drawn from the twelve tribes of Israel, whom an angel has marked with
the seal of the living God (vv. 1-8). Some commentators interpret them
as all being Christians of Jewish background (Judaeo-Christians).
Others say that they are those who make up the new Israel which St Paul
speaks about in Galatians 6:17; that is, all the baptized viewed first
as still engaged in their battle (vv. 1-8) and then after they have won
victory (vv. 9-17). The most plausible interpretation is that the one
hundred and forty four thousand stand for the Jews converted to
Christianity (as distinct from those not converted)--the 'remnant of
Israel' (cf. Is 4:2-4; Ezek 9; etc.). St Paul says that they prove the
irrevocable nature of God's election (cf. Rom 1l:1-5) and are the
first-fruits of the restoration which will come about at the End (cf.
Rom 11:25-32).

The hundred and forty-four thousand are included in the second vision;
they would be part of the great multitude "from all tribes and people
and tongues". Thus, the vision in vv. 9-17 takes in the entire Church
without any distinctions, whereas the vision in vv. 1-8 can refer only
to a part of the Church--those Jews who, by becoming Christians, made
up the original nucleus of the Church. The Church admits these on the
same basis as all those who become Christians later without having had
to pass through any stage of Jewish observance.

1-8. In Jewish tradition angels were divided into two groups--angels of
the Presence and sanctification, and those charged with controlling the
forces of nature. Both kinds appear in this passage.

According to the custom of the time, when something bore the mark of a
seal or brand that meant that it belonged to the seal's owner. This
passage is saying that the one hundred and forty four thousand belong
to God and therefore will be protected by him as his property. This
fulfills what Ezekiel prophesied about the inhabitants of Jerusalem (cf.
Ezek 9:1-7): some would be sealed on the forehead with a tax (the last
letter of the Hebrew alphabet) and would therefore escape the
punishment to be inflicted on all the rest: this shows the special way
God makes provision for those who are his not only because he created
them but also by a new title.

The Fathers of the Church saw this mark as symbolizing the character
Baptism impresses on the souls of the faithful to show that they are
destined for eternal life. Thus, the persons preserved from harm are
the Jews who were converts to Christianity: their Baptism marked them
out from those Jews who rejected Christ and were not baptized.

The list of tribes is somewhat different from the usual list which
keeps the order of Genesis 29. The name of Judah is put first because
the Messiah came from that tribe, as St John recently mentioned (cf.
5:5); and there is no mention of the tribe of Dan, presumably because
it fell into idolatry (cf. Judg 17-18) and eventually disappeared. To
make up the tally of twelve the tribe of Joseph is mentioned twice--as
that of Joseph and as that of Manasseh, his first-born.

The number of those sealed (12 x 12 x 1000) symbolizes completeness,
totality--in this instance, a huge multitude, depicted as the new
Israel. Included in this number are the descendants of Jacob who
receive Baptism, irrespective of when they do. Obviously this number is
not meant to be taken literally, as if only one hundred and forty-four
thousand people will attain salvation. In this scene all those of
Gentile background who become Christians over the course of history are
explicitly not included. They will appear in the vision which follows.

9-17. Pope John Paul II has commented on this passage as follows: "The
people dressed in white robes whom John sees with his prophetic eye are
the redeemed, and they form a 'great multitude', which no one could
count and which is made up of people of the most varied backgrounds.
The blood of the Lamb, who has been offered in sacrifice for all, has
exercised its universal and most effective redemptive power in every
corner of the earth, extending grace and salvation to that 'great
multitude'. After undergoing the trials and being purified in the blood
of Christ, they--the redeemed--are now safe in the Kingdom of God, whom
they praise and bless for ever and ever" ("Homily", 1 November 1981).
This great crowd includes all the saved and not just the martyrs, for
it says that they washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb, not in
their own blood.

Everyone has to become associated with Christ's passion through
suffering, as St Augustine explains, not without a certain humor: "Many
are martyrs in their beds. The Christian is lying on his couch,
tormented by pain. He prays and his prayers are not heard, or perhaps
they are heard but he is being put to the test...so that he may be
received as a son. He becomes a martyr through illness and is crowned
by him who hung upon the Cross" ("Sermon" 286, 8).

"It is consoling and encouraging to know that those who attain heaven
constitute a huge multitude. The passages of Matthew 7:14 and Luke 13:
24 which seem to imply that very few will be saved should be
interpreted in the light of this vision, which shows that the infinite
value of Christ's blood makes God's will be done: "(God) desires all
men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth" (1 Tim 2:4).

In vv 14-17 we see the blessed in two different situations--first,
before the resurrection of the body (v. 14) and, then, after it, when
body and soul have been reunited (vv. 15-17). In this second situation
the nature of risen bodies is highlighted: they cannot suffer pain or
inconvenience of any kind: they are out of harm's reach; they have the
gift of "impassibility" (cf. "St Pius V Catechism", I, 12, 13).

This consoling scene is included in the vision to encourage believers
to imitate those Christians who were like us and now find themselves
in heaven because they have come through victorious. The Church invites
us to pray along similar lines: "Father, you sanctified the Church of
Rome with the blood of its first martyrs. May we find strength from
their courage and rejoice in their triumph" ("Roman Missal", Feast of
the First Martyrs of the Church of Rome, opening prayer).

Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.

From: 1 John 3:1-3

We are Children of God

[1] See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called
children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know
us is that it did not know him. [2] Beloved, we are God's children now;
it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he
appears we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

A Child of God Does Not Sin

[3] And every one who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.

Commentary:

1-24. This entire chapter shows how moved the Apostle is when he
contemplates the marvelous gift of divine filiation. The Holy Spirit,
who is the author of all Sacred Scripture, has desired John to pass on
to us this unique revelation: we are children of God (v. 1).

It is not easy to divide the chapter into sections, because the style
is very cyclic and colloquial and includes many repetitions and further
thoughts which make for great vividness and freshness. However, we can
distinguish an opening proclamation of the central message (vv. 1-2)
and emphasis on two requirements of divine filiation--rejection of sin
in any shape or form (vv. 3-10), and brotherly love lived to the full
(vv. 11-24).

1. "We should be called children of God": the original Hebrew
_expression, which reads "we are called...", is also used by our Lord in
the Beatitudes (cf. Mt 5:9): "to be called" means the same as "to be
called by God"; and in the language of the Bible, when God gives
someone a name he is not simply conferring a title but is causing the
thing that the name indicates (cf., e.g., Gen 17:5), for the word of
God is efficacious, it does what it says it will do. Hence St John's
adding: "and so we are".

Therefore, it is not just a matter of a metaphorical title, or a legal
fiction, or adoption human-style: divine filiation is an essential
feature of a Christian's life, a marvelous fact whereby God
gratuitously gives men a strictly supernatural dignity, an intimacy
with God whereby they are "domestici Dei", "members of the household of
God" (Eph 2:19). This explains the tone of amazement and joy with which
St John passes on this revelation.

This sense of divine filiation is one of the central points in the
spirituality of Opus Dei. Its founder wrote: "We do not exist in order
to pursue just any happiness. We have been called to penetrate the
intimacy of God's own life, to know and love God the Father, God the
Son, and God the Holy Spirit, and to love also--in that same love of
the one God in three divine Persons--the angels and all men.

"This is the great boldness of the Christian faith--to proclaim the
value and dignity of human nature and to affirm that we have been
created to obtain the dignity of children of God, through the grace
that raises us up to a supernatural level. An incredible boldness it
would be, were it not founded on the promise of salvation given us by
God the Father, confirmed by the blood of Christ, and reaffirmed and
made possible by the constant action of the Holy Spirit" ("Christ Is
Passing By", 133).

"The world does not know us, (because) it did not know him": these
words are reminiscent of our Lord's at the Last Supper: "the hour is
coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God.
And they will do this because they have not known the Father, nor me"
(Jn 16:2-3). Divine filiation brings with it communion and a mysterious
identification between Christ and the Christian.

2. The indescribable gift of divine filiation, which the world does not
know (v. 1), is not fully experienced by Christians, because the seeds
of divine life which it contains will only reach their full growth in
eternal life, when we see him "as he is", "face to face" (1 Cor 13:12);
"this is eternal life, that they know thee the only true God, and Jesus
Christ whom thou hast sent" (Jn 17:3). In that direct sight of God as
he is, and of all things in God, the life of grace and divine filiation
achieve their full growth. Man is not naturally able to see God face to
face; he needs to be enlightened by a special light, which is given the
technical theological name of "lumen gloriae", light of glory. This
does not allow him to "take in" all God (no created thing could do
that), but it does allow him to look at God directly.

Commenting on this verse, the "St Pius V Catechism" explains that
"beatitude consists of two things--that we shall behold God such as he
is in his own nature and substance; and that we ourselves shall become,
as it were, gods. For those who enjoy God while they retain their own
nature, assume a certain admirable and almost divine form, so as to
seem gods rather than men" (I, 13, 7).

"When he appears": two interpretations are possible, given that in
Greek the verb has no subject: "when (what we shall be) is revealed we
shall be as he is"; or, as the New Vulgate translates it, "when he
(Christ) is revealed we will be like him (Christ)". The second
interpretation is the more likely.

3. "Purifies himself': Christian hope, which is grounded on Christ, is
something active and it moves the Christian to "purify himself". This
verb is evocative of the ritual purifications required of priests in
the Old Testament prior to engaging in divine service (cf. Ex 19:10;
Num 8:21; Acts 21:24); here, and in other places in the New Testament,
it means interior purification from sins, that is, righteousness,
holiness (1 Pet 1:22; Jas 4:8). Our model is Jesus Christ, "as he is
pure"; he is the One who has never had sin, the Righteous One (1 Jn 2:
29; 3:7); a Christian has no other model of holiness, as Jesus himself
said: "Learn from me" (Mt 11:29; cf. Jn 14:6). "We have to learn from
him, from Jesus, who is our only model. If you want to go forward
without stumbling or wandering off the path, then all you have to do is
walk the road he walked, placing your feet in his footprints and
entering into his humble and patient Heart, there to drink from the
wellsprings of his commandments and of his love. In a word, you must
identify yourself with Jesus Christ and try to become really and truly
another Christ among your fellow men" ([St] J. Escriva, "Friends of God",
128).