The End

Lectio:

Solemnity of All Saints
Lectionary: 667

Reading 1RV 7:2-4, 9-14

I, John, saw another angel come up from the East,
holding the seal of the living God.
He cried out in a loud voice to the four angels
who were given power to damage the land and the sea,
"Do not damage the land or the sea or the trees
until we put the seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God."
I heard the number of those who had been marked with the seal,
one hundred and forty-four thousand marked
from every tribe of the children of Israel.

After this I had a vision of a great multitude,
which no one could count,
from every nation, race, people, and tongue.
They stood before the throne and before the Lamb,
wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands.
They cried out in a loud voice:

"Salvation comes from our God, who is seated on the throne,
and from the Lamb."

All the angels stood around the throne
and around the elders and the four living creatures.
They prostrated themselves before the throne,
worshiped God, and exclaimed:

"Amen. Blessing and glory, wisdom and thanksgiving,
honor, power, and might
be to our God forever and ever. Amen."

Then one of the elders spoke up and said to me,
"Who are these wearing white robes, and where did they come from?"
I said to him, "My lord, you are the one who knows."
He said to me,
"These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress;
they have washed their robes
and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb."

Studium:

This is John's revelation of the end-time.  It starts in the East because that's where Jesus is supposed to return.  In Genesis 2:8, the east is considered the entry point of light and the site of paradise.  

The seal marks believers and are protected.  Their number is perfect--the twelve tribes of Israel squared.  The second crowd of innumerable people is everyone else.  The long white robes are a sign of their resurrected status.  The palm branches are a symbol of victory.  The martyrs are the ones who washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb.

Meditatio:

The ultimate triumph is our faithfulness.  I long to be in this parade of martyrs, the chosen, the persevering, holding palms and crying out "Salvation comes from our God, who is seated on the throne, and from the Lamb."

Oratio:

You are the One.  You are my Beloved.  You, O Lord is my reason for being.  I owe everything to you and long to be with You.

Contemplatio:

Blessed be the name of the Lord.