Our weekday readings at Mass for the 33rd and 34th weeks, the final weeks  of the church year, are from the Book of Revelation, which describes the last days when God fulfills his promise of a kingdom. The Gospel readings for these weekdays are from Luke 17-21, also about the coming of God’s kingdom.

The Book of Revelation is a hard book to understand. John, writing from the prison island of Patmos to the churches of Asia Minor, uses strong, imaginative and apocalyptic images to picture the final triumph of Christ over Satan. John tells the churches to be alert. The kingdom is coming soon.

John borrows from Jewish apocalyptic writings, Daniel, Ezechiel and others, and he writes to give hope and warn a people in crisis, suffering like him. Commentators say he is possibly a disciple of John, the apostle, whom tradition associates with the church in Asia Minor, and they date the book to the time of a Roman persecution under the Emperor Domitian (A.D. 81–96).

Other commentators question whether the book responds to a persecution under Domitian. Instead, they see Revelation directed against Christians throughout Asia Minor who have become too much at home in Roman society, following the approach seen in the Pastoral Epistles of Paul. To John, the Asia Minor churches have lost their zeal for the gospel and he warns them about their increasing mediocrity. (cf. Revelation, Wilfrid J. Harrington, OP, Sacra Pagina, Liturgical Press 1993)

We are invited in Revelations to look to God’s glory in heaven’s court, resplendent with gems and other traditional symbols expressing God’s majesty. A great assembly praises God “who created all things” and the triumphant Christ, the Lamb who was slain, who reveals the plan of God:

“Worthy are you, O Lord, to receive the scroll
and break open its seals,
for you were slain and by your Blood you purchased for God
those from every tribe and tongue, people and nation.
You made them a kingdom and priests for our God,
and they will reign on earth.” (Revelation 12,10-12)

Our medieval illustration above presents the church on earth prayerfully fixed on Christ in glory; a green road, the tree of life, is bent to provide the way to glory. The writer of Revelation is not concerned with living comfortably here on earth. Christ is not just an earthly companion seeing us through the day; he calls us to a life beyond this.

“‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock.
If anyone hears my voice and opens the door,
then I will enter his house and dine with him,
and he with me. I will give the victor the right to sit with me on my throne,
as I myself first won the victory.
and sit with my Father on his throne.” ( Revelation 3, 14)

The best commentators on scripture are the scriptures themselves, St. Augustine taught, and so as we see from Luke’s Gospel read with the Book of Revelation Jesus calls sinners as he makes his way to Jerusalem then dies on the cross. He never tells Zachaeus the publican to give up his job. He warns against burying your talent in the ground while the Master’s not here. He also says not to search into the time and the day the Son of Man will come. Keep your eye on the daily cross that’s yours.

But Jesus also told us he’s coming again.