Tuesday in the 34th Week of Ordinary Time, November 22, 2022

The Memorial of St. Cecilia

Revelation 14, 14-19

I, John, looked and there was a white cloud, and sitting on the cloud one who looked like a Son of man, with a gold crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. Another angel came out of the temple, crying out in a loud voice to the one sitting on the cloud, “Use your sickle and reap the harvest, for the time to reap has come, because the earth’s harvest is fully ripe.” So the one who was sitting on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested.  Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven who also had a sharp sickle. Then another angel came from the altar, who was in charge of the fire, and cried out in a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, “Use your sharp sickle and cut the clusters from the earth’s vines, for its grapes are ripe.” So the angel swung his sickle over the earth and cut the earth’s vintage. He threw it into the great wine press of God’s fury.

The First Reading for today’s Mass (as well as the Gospel) pertain to the end of the world.  This small portion from one of the visions in the Book of Revelation tells how the the Lord Jesus, shown sitting on a cloud, as a sign of his divinity, will swing his sickle and reap the harvest of the earth.  He only needs to take a single swing to accomplish this.  His action here signifies how quickly and without warning the end will come.  It will happen in an instant.  All the people of the earth will be gathered together by the angels.  The wicked will be herded into hell, signified in this vision by the angel who cuts earth’s vintage and throws it into the “wine press” of God’s fury.  

An angel explains that the just become “fully ripe” so that they may be reaped — judged.  This is a great mystery.  Some people “ripen”, that is, complete their growth in holiness, more quickly than others.  St. Cecilia, whose feast we celebrate today, was martyred will probably still in her teens, for she died shortly after she was married.  Others, like St. Antony of the Desert, lived to great old age.  This tells us that in addition to their own growth in holiness, the measure of a saint’s influence is also a factor.  St. Cecilia showed, by her example that a young woman could defeat her persecutors through her faith.  St. Antony’s long life showed the example of perseverance in the Christian Faith over the course of a full lifetime. In our fallen world, babies die too, living very briefly.  They give us the example of innocence which we ought to preserve in our lives.  Their work on earth is accomplished quickly, they “ripen” quickly, but they will pray for us in heaven until we join their ranks in glory.  

The wicked ripen too, and go rotten.  God gives them continuous chances to repent but they do not.  They “fill up the measure” of their fathers (cf. Matthew 23, 32), that is, of the devil.  They will know the horror of the wine press.

We pray that we will fill our lives up with good works so that we may fully ripen and be brought into the storehouses of heaven by the One who sits on the cloud with the crown of victory on his head.