Fourth Sunday of Easter – C3

Fourth Sunday of Easter – C3

Years C
Revelation 7:9-17

Who are the ones who come out of great ordeal? The one's who are loved?

No matter where they have been, what they have done, the consequences they have borne - they are loved beyond themselves.

There is a happy response to understanding past knowing that one is loved. It is here portrayed as a universal joy we all blend into. This may be very satisfying for whatever is receiving such paeans of praise.

Less satisfying is knowing that we are but part of an adoring crowd. There is only love of G*D left, no love of neighbor. While exciting, it is but a thin veneer of exultation covering nothing else. All in all, for all its noise and show, a very static scene.

If this apocalyptic literature is to mobilize us into action in this world, it is important to return to a question of who now is later going to celebrate. May it be the one's we love. And so we expand our love base.

= = = = = = =

tears will be wiped away
this is a grand vision

to live toward it
we identify current tears

huge racking sobs
tender whimpers

from whence do they arise
man's inhumanity to man

to wipe away such tears
a new humanity is revealed

wounded healers
healing wounded healers

ordeal sufferers
suffering ordeal sufferers

rivers of tears
falling from above

springs of life
rising from below

meet in middle age
to cleanse our eyes

who are we
who are they

loved lovers
lovers loved