TODAY'S MEDITATIONS

Catholic Calendar for Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Wednesday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time
St. Andrew Dung-Lac, priest and martyr
and his companions, martyrs



Scripture from today's Liturgy of the Word: 

Revelation 15:1-4
Psalm 98:1, 2-3ab, 7-8, 9
Luke 21:12-19



A reflection on today's Sacred Scripture: 

As a scholar of sacred scripture, I have always been amazed at how all the books and words of the bible, from the very first to the very last, all tie together and tell the story of God's plan for our salvation and communion with Him. In our first reading today we hear more from the book of Revelation, a book that is difficult to understand and that has been the topic of many debates since it was written. But I want to draw your attention to these verses:

Great and wonderful are your works,
Lord God almighty.
Just and true are your ways, 
O king of the nations.
Who will not fear you, Lord,
or glorify your name?
For you alone are holy.
All the nations will come
and worship before you,
for your righteous acts have been revealed. 
(Revelation 15:3-4)

This wonderful hymn, found in the last book of the Bible, actually comes from the book of Exodus, one of the first books of the bible. The original, in Exodus, is known as the song of Moses and was sung by the Israelites when they were freed from slavery in Egypt and had successfully passed through the Red Sea. In this version from Revelation, it is sung by a new set of people who have also been delivered from slavery: the slavery of sin and death through the wondrous sacrifice of our Lord Jesus. God wants nothing more than for us to sing this wonderful hymn and join with the voices of the saints that have gone before us, all the way back to Moses. What a loving and wonderful God!

Great and wonderful are your works, Lord God almighty.
Just and true are your ways,
O king of the nations. 

~ Don Claunch, SFO | email: dlclaunch@bresnan.net