Blessed is the one who reads aloud
and blessed are those who listen to this prophetic message
and heed what is written in it, for the appointed time is near.
(Rev 1:3)
This little verse holds a key to understanding this mysterious book of the Bible. “Blessed is the one who reads aloud and blessed are those who listen” describes a liturgical setting and further on the writer says that it was “on the Lord’s day” (Rev 1:10). And perhaps, the liturgy is the proper place to situate this book and to understand its message, a message not only to early Christians facing persecution, but also to overstuffed Christians two thousand years later who have “lost the love you had at first” (Rev 2:4). These last two weeks of Ordinary Time should be interesting.
