“And when I had seen him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying: ‘Fear not, I am the First and the Last, and alive, and was dead, and behold I am living for ever and ever, and have the keys of death and hell. Write therefore the things which thou hast seen, and which are, and which must be done hereafter. The mystery of the seven stars, which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches. And the seven candlesticks are the seven churches.’”
St. Paul mentions that “We see now through a glass in a dark manner” (1 Corinthians 13:12), and Wisdom reinforces this by saying: “He that is a searcher of majesty, shall be overwhelmed by glory” (Proverbs 25:27), for to know the essence of love, to see what the love that is God’s divinity looks like face to face, is greater than human frailty can bear. Thus, St. John collapses as if dead, but Jesus in His gentleness and love reaches down with His right hand to reassure Him, just as He had at the transfiguration: “And as he was yet speaking, behold a bright cloud overshadowed them. And lo, a voice out of the cloud, saying: ‘This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased: hear ye him.’ And the disciples hearing, fell upon their face, and were very much afraid. And Jesus came and touched them: and said to them, ‘Arise, and fear not’” (Matthew 17:5-7). This reassurance comes with the title “First and the Last,” for though His being first, that than which nothing greater can be imagined, a temple of glory: “Upon the likeness of the throne, was a likeness as of the appearance of a man above upon it. And I saw as it were the resemblance of amber as the appearance of fire within it round about: from his loins and upward, and from his loins downward, I saw as it were the resemblance of fire shining round about” (Ezechiel 1:26-27), He is also the least, the least and simplest of men, that you may never be scared to approach Him. How many times through the Gospels must He reassure His followers: “It is I; be not afraid” (John 6:20)! Though first in majesty, He became the least in humanity, that none may feel He is too great to give them His love and attention: “Suffer the little children, and forbid them not to come to me: for the kingdom of heaven is for such” (Matthew 19:14). That He is alive and was dead points both to His resurrection, that He will never die again, as well as to the fact that while His humanity died, His divinity was always living, that even in death His love for you never faded, “For love is strong as death” (Canticle 8:6). Thus, His love for you will be forever, as He is forever, and He is Love Itself. When He says then that He holds the keys of death and hell, this is to signify that your death will come when you are sanctified in love as is pleasing to Him, to become the greatest expression of “I love you” as possible, and when you have finished the work that He wants you to accomplish. Death will then become something beautiful, “But I am straitened between two: having a desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ, a thing by far the better. But to abide still in the flesh, is needful for you” (Philippians 1:21), a door through which you can walk with serenity and happiness, because your Beloved awaits the other side. It is His judgment of one’s attitude towards Him that He lifts to heaven or sends to hell, thus He has the key to hell, but to you, Theophila, it is granted to hear Him say, “Come, my beloved, greatly did you love me.” Jesus then tells St. John to write what he has seen, which is the vision just read, the present happenings that will be described in the coming chapters, and the things to come, which is the prophetic message that makes up chapters 4-21 of the book. In this is a look into the Scriptures as a whole, that love takes different expressions and has different necessities throughout time. As God commanded animal sacrifice and great military conquests in one time and to be struck on the cheek in another, so too throughout time do His people need different things to be adorned in the true spiritual goods that are pleasing to Him: “We will make thee chains of gold, inlaid with silver” (Canticle 1:10). Jesus then explains that the seven gold lampstands are the seven churches, which was touched on before, but one added point of significance is that these churches represent the churches throughout the world, and their mirroring of the temple lamp show that, through the Holy Spirit, the whole world becomes His temple: “God is a spirit; and they that adore him, must adore him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). The significance of this is that in receiving the grace from the sacraments, you become a living monstrance, and the world becomes your cathedral, all things drawing you into God’s presence as reminders of His love for you, while you radiate the love of Christ to all that encounter you. Though time before the Blessed Sacrament is of extraordinary value, you also need not be afraid when you are drawn from Him in the chapel, for the gift is given to you to see Him everywhere and in all things. Thus, you can proclaim with joy: “Whereas I was blind, now I see” (John 9:25), for “The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the Lord hath made them both” (Proverbs 20:12).