The Name of God

I, John, looked and there was the Lamb standing on Mt. Zion, and with him a hundred and forty-four thousand who had his name and his father’s name written on their foreheads….who had been ransomed from the earth.—Rev 14:1-3 +

Two things: Firstly, I pray for the Holy Souls every day. I have accepted this long-ago calling and have not turned my back on it and on them. I am praying them into heaven. I am grateful for the readings from the Book of Revelation at this time of the Church Year which reminds me of the Holy Souls. I like to imagine this symbolic number of 144,000 strong enjoying their place in heaven. May my prayers get them there!

Secondly: Today’s readings and the phrase about God’s ‘name written on their foreheads’ reinforces what I heard at yesterday’s homily. Fr. Andrew was giving us a bit of the history of the Feast of Christ the King. It is not a very old feast; if I remember correctly Pope Pius introduced it about 1928 in reaction to the threat of communism and its godless ideas. Fr. Andrew told us about a recent trip he took to the monuments around Washington DC, and told us of the places he saw the word “God” etched in stone. The older monuments had the word everywhere. The newest memorial, that to Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr, did not recognize his title (reverend) nor include the words of God, or Jesus, or Christianity anywhere. MLK’s speeches were laden with those words. He was a preacher! It has become politically incorrect to use the name of God in any public place. We are in worse shape than we were in 1928! How intolerant we have become. Can this be good for our country? I think we Catholics need to be visible and vocal. Let us keep the word of God in our lives. God give us courage.