Today’s Readings – Saturday of week 34 of Ordinary Time - First Reading

Commentary on Rev 22:1-7
In a passage immediately preceding today’s and not included in our liturgical readings, the followers of the Beast, an agent of Satan, were said to be branded on the right hand or the forehead with his name and number, just as slaves were branded with their owner’s sign or the way we brand cattle and sheep today. This was a sign of ownership. The Beast is also identified with the enigmatic number 666, said to be the sum of the numeric value given to the Hebrew letters making up the name Nero Caesar. (As a document written during time of persecution, many references in Revelation are expressed in a code which would only be understood by those within the persecuted community.)
In today’s reading, the followers of the Beast, who … Continue

Yesterday’s Readings – Friday of week 34 of Ordinary Time - First Reading

Commentary on Rev 20:1-4, 11-21:2Judgement and the New JerusalemToday we have a powerful vision of the end time described in highly symbolic language, which is not to be taken literally. Here we need to be very careful to go to the central meaning of what is being said an … Continue