To all you Catholics: I hope you were paying attention during the first reading at Mass this morning, the Second Sunday of Easter, a.k.a. Divine Mercy Sunday. Why? Because it was about John on Patmos! Hence today's Patmos post, if I may be Captain Obvious for a moment. The reading began thus:
I John, your brother, who share with you in Jesus the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet saying, "Write what you see in a book..." (RSV-CE2; the translation used at Mass says "scroll")Also, it's the inspired word of God, which seems to me reason enough to pay attention. (It's okay, I might have been distracted too, if I hadn't been the lector assigned to read it aloud before priest, people, and Almighty God.)
But even if you were paying attention, the whole point of this post probably wouldn't have occurred to you. You see, the reading was taken from "Rev 1:9-11a, 12-13, 17-19", which makes you wonder what's so bad about 11b that it had to be taken out... or 14-16 for that matter. Upon reading the entirety of Rev 1 today, I was blessed with a reflection on Divine Mercy that seemed too beautiful to keep to myself.
It appears that verse 11b wasn't such a loss, for purposes of liturgy... "Write on a scroll what you see," 11a, is followed by "and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira..." et cetera. (By this time the lector is completely tongue-tied and unable to finish the reading.) Okay.
The greater loss is verses 14-16, which further describe the "one like a Son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash across his chest" from verse 13. If you open your RSV-CE2 Bible, you will see that the description continues:
His head and his hair were white as white wool, white as snow; his eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined as in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of many waters; in his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth issued a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.We have a greater than Saruman here.
The reading continues with verses 17-18:
When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand upon me, saying, "Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one; I died, and behold I am alive evermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.My friends, the omitted description makes all the difference for our Divine Mercy Sunday liturgy. No, it's not because Mass will take thirty seconds longer (if your lector is particularly slow). It's because the picture is so much more vivid... and it makes so much more sense. What I mean is this: as we heard it, John hears a loud voice, turns around and sees one like a Son of man standing amidst lampstands and wearing a long robe with a gold sash. Next thing you know, John falls like a corpse to the floor! Is John a former slave, that he stands in such awe and fear of men wearing gold sashes? (Cue: Dan Brown-esque backstory, based on a recently-discovered long-lost manuscript fragment of the Acts of John, believed to be written by Mary Magdelene)
With the omitted verses, however, the reading makes much more sense. The Son of man has "eyes like a flame of fire... his voice was like the sound of many waters... from his mouth issued a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength." Yeah, I'd fall flat on my face too.
But aside from being more vivid and making more sense when the omitted verses are included, this reading presents an even stronger image of divine mercy--more fitting, considering today's feast. The Son of man in His glory is an overwhelming, awe-inspiring sight. Any rejection of Him through sin is an unspeakable offense against His infinite goodness, against the perfect justice of His eternal law. Yet when John falls at His feet, He says: Fear not. Do not be afraid. I AM the living One; I have conquered death for you, out of My infinite mercy, and there is nothing left to fear for those who follow Me.
And when we fall, we too can trust that in our repentance He will lay His right hand upon us and say, "Do not be afraid." Praised be His Divine Mercy forever. Amen.
