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Monday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time
Revelation 1:1–4; 2:1–5
Today we begin to hear from the Book of Revelation.
Many Christians find this book difficult.
It is full of symbols,
visions,
angels,
beasts,
judgment,
battle,
and glory.
It is not an easy book.
It was not easy for the early Church either.
Some Christians hesitated before accepting it as part of the Bible.
But the Church received it as the word of God.
And we must learn how to listen to it.
Revelation is not only a book about the end of the world.
It is also a book about the battle already taking place now.
The battle between good and evil.
Between worship of God and worship of idols.
Between faithfulness and compromise.
Between the Lamb and the powers of darkness.
It is also a book full of liturgy.
There are hymns.
There is worship.
There is incense.
There is an altar.
There is the Lamb.
Revelation opens our eyes to see that the Church on earth
is joined to the worship of heaven.
But today, the message becomes very personal.
The risen Christ speaks to the Church in Ephesus.
Ephesus was an important city.
Saint Paul had preached there.
Saint John was connected with that community.
The Church there had received many blessings.
And Christ knows this Church well.
He praises what is good.
He sees their works.
He sees their endurance.
He sees that they refuse to tolerate evil.
But then He says one painful sentence:
You have lost the love you had at first.
This is serious.
They were still active.
They were still working.
They were still defending what was right.
They were still enduring.
But something had faded.
The fire had grown weak.
The first love had cooled.
This can happen to a Church.
It can happen to a parish.
It can happen to a religious community.
It can happen to a family.
It can happen to a priest.
It can happen to any Christian.
We can continue to do many good things,
but without love.
We can serve,
but without joy.
We can defend truth,
but without tenderness.
We can keep going,
but no longer burn for Christ.
The risen Lord does not ignore this.
He says:
Remember.
Repent.
Return.
Remember where you were before you fell.
Repent of the coldness that entered your heart.
Return to the love you had at first.
Perhaps this is also His word to us today.
What would Christ say to our communities?
What would He praise?
What would He warn?
What love has grown cold in us?
The Book of Revelation does not begin by satisfying curiosity about the future.
It begins by asking for conversion now.
Christ walks among His Churches.
He sees us.
He knows us.
He calls us back.
Let us ask today for one grace:
to love Christ again
with the fire,
the gratitude,
and the joy
of our first love.
Biblical Reflections on the Gospel of Mark
Year of Mark - Get it from Amazon
Scripture Attribution
New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition,
copyright © 1989, 1993
the Division of Christian Education of the National Council
of the Churches of
Christ in the United States of America.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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© 2025 Krakus.
Licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0
(Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial).