Monday in the 34th Week of Ordinary Time, November 23, 2020

Revelation 14:1–5

I beheld: and lo a Lamb stood upon mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty-four thousand, having his name and the name of his Father written on their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven, as the noise of many waters and as the voice of great thunder. And the voice which I heard was as the voice of harpers, harping on their harps. And they sung as it were a new canticle, before the throne and before the four living creatures and the ancients: and no man could say the canticle, but those hundred forty-four thousand who were purchased from the earth. These are they who were not defiled with women: for they are virgins. These follow the Lamb whithersoever he goes. These were purchased from among men, the first-fruits to God and to the Lamb. And in their mouth there was found no lie: for they are without spot before the throne of God. 

The above is the first five verses of Revelation 14 in their entirety.  The reading for Mass excises the words “These are they who were not defiled with women: for they are virgins.”  Probably someone overseeing the reform of the lectionary felt the Word of God here was offensive and so they cut these words out.  The meaning of these words is, of course, important, and they will be explained in due time.  People who find the Word of God offensive ought to change themselves, not the Word of God.  The translation above, by the way, is from the Douay Rheims.

“I beheld: and lo a Lamb stood upon mount Sion.”  This verse and those that follow it belong to the fourth vision of the Book of Revelation. The first vision concerns the present state of the Church and its future, with warnings to do penance.  The second describes the history of the Church from the time of Christ until the final judgment.  The third concerns the preaching of the Church.  The fourth has to do with the birth of believers in the Faith, their persecution, and their safety in the Church.  This vision comprises chapters 12-14.  This verse, the first of chapter 14, shows the Lord Jesus standing upon the Church, “Mount Sion”, and protecting it.  And not only him, but “with him an hundred forty-four thousand, having his name and the name of his Father written on their foreheads.”  The number is symbolic and means “fullness”, or, “the full amount”.  This is the totality of believers, male and female, Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians.  The name of the Father of the Lamb is written on their foreheads.  This picks up from Revelation 7:3–4, in which an angel says to those about to unleash the wrath of God upon the earth: “Hurt not the earth nor the sea nor the trees, till we sign the servants of our God in their foreheads. And I heard the number of them that were signed. An hundred forty-four thousand were signed, of every tribe of the children of Israel.”  This signifies that the Church is protected even while the world falls apart around it.  The signing of the name of the Father shows that these people openly belong to him as his possessions.

“And I heard a voice from heaven, as the noise of many waters and as the voice of great thunder.”  The Venerable Bede says that this is the voice of God, but we are not told what the voice says.  Perhaps the Father is speaking to the Lamb, his Son.  For a possible similarity, see John 12, 28-29.  “And the voice which I heard was as the voice of harpers, harping on their harps. And they sung as it were a new canticle, before the throne and before the four living creatures and the ancients.”  These verses describe the new song sung by the Church.  The “new canticle” brings to mind the verse from the Psalm,”Sing to the Lord a new song” (Psalm 96, 1), which celebrates God’s salvation of Israel.  This is appropriate inasmuch as the Church is the New Israel.  “And they sung as it were a new canticle, before the throne and before the four living creatures and the ancients.”  One reason folks find the Book of Revelation difficult to read is that there is a plurality of signs for the same thing.  Here, the Church appears as the twenty-four elders, the four living creatures, and the multitude of 144,000.  The Church appears under the aspect of the elders, who signify the Church leaders.  Under the aspect of the living creatures we see the Church in her virtues.  In the 144,000 we see the Church in the fullness of her number, and as the individual Saints who make up a great chorus.  “No man could say the canticle, but those hundred forty-four thousand who were purchased from the earth.”  This is the victory song of those who persevered in the Faith.  The wicked cannot sing it, knowing neither the words nor the melody, and having no ability to sing joyfully, but only to lament.  These righteous ones were “purchased from the earth” by the Lord Jesus, at the cost of “the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb unspotted and undefiled” (1 Peter 1, 19).  

“These are they who were not defiled with women: for they are virgins.”  This is the text excised from the reading.  It does not pertain strictly to men because these are all the righteous.  The text should be understood thus: These are they who were not defiled by lust.  They are virgins in that they either lived celibate lives or in that they lived out their married lives in fidelity and with respect for their spouses.  The word “virgin” ought to be understood here in the sense of “undefiled”.  What defiles a person is not married love, but lust (cf. Matthew 15, 18-19).  And so we can see the whole variety of Saints in this choir: martyrs, confessors, virgins, clergy, missionaries, and married people.  “These follow the Lamb whithersoever he goes.”  They do not lead the Lamb to pasture but are led by the Lamb.  They follow him wherever he goes, faithfully  going in his footsteps, making his will their own.  They go together, assisting one another with prayers, encouragement, and good example.  “These were purchased from among men, the first-fruits to God and to the Lamb.”  That is, purchased from among all the members of the human race.  Now, the Lamb purchases us, but if we are unwilling to go with him, he allows us to depart from him.  The Saints are those who were purchased and who followed the Lamb wherever he took them.  They are called the “first-fruits”, not in terms of having been harvested first, but in terms of their quality.  All the Saints, then, are “first-fruits”.  There are no lesser “fruits” among them.  “And in their mouth there was found no lie: for they are without spot before the throne of God.”  This is part of the virginity of the Saints.  They are undefiled as to lust and as to lies and any kind of falsehood.  “Without spot” brings to mind the only sort of animal which could be offered to God in sacrifice: “He shall present his offering to the Lord: one male lamb a year old without defect for a burnt offering and one ewe-lamb a year old without defect for a sin offering” (Numbers 6, 14).

The Lord Jesus gives us this day to repent of any impurity we have committed, to obtain forgiveness and grace in the sacraments, and to live “unspotted” lives for God.  We have this day to do this, for no further days are guaranteed to us.