The
following Homily was given by Fr. Herbert Nicholls on September 26th
at the Mother of the Light Convent
This morning we will
look at Chapter 3 of the Book of Revelation (the letters to the Churches in
Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea) as well as a brief look at St. Matthew’s
Gospel, chapter 10: 16-22.
The Church of Sardis
was located about 30 miles South East of Thyatira. It seems to be a living a
Christian community, but it is in fact dead. External practices make it look
alive, but most of its members are estranged from Christ, devoid of the Spirit
and living in a sinful condition. Recall that the Lord Himself spoke of the
prodigal son as being in a kind of death. St. Paul in Romans 6:13 exhorts
Christians as men who have been brought from death to life.
Despite the corrupt
society in which they lived there were some Christians who had not been
contaminated by the immoral cults and lifestyles. Here John makes his first of
several references to the Book of Life, the book of the living or the book of
the Lord. Those whose names are enrolled in this book will share in the promise
of salvation, while the unfaithful will be excluded, their names ‘blotted out’.
As indicated by St.
Matthew today, genuine commitment to Jesus always involves effort. There are
certain worldly things with which a Christian cannot compromise with, no matter
how fashionable they may be. Christian life inevitably involves nonconformity
with anything that contradicts faith or morality, but difficulties of this sort
should not make us afraid; we are not alone. We can count on the powerful help
of God to give fortitude and courage. “Worry not about what you are to say; the
Holy Spirit will put the words into your mouth” (cf. Mt 10: 19 – 20).
In the letter to
Church at Philadelphia, another busy place of material exchange, 25 miles South
East of Sardis, Jesus speaks of the “key of David” with the power to open and
shut, signifying God’s absolute sovereignty. Jesus used this metaphor of a key
in handing on divine powers to Peter and the college of apostles (cf. Mt
18:18).
Moving to the seventh
and final letter to the Laodiceans, a people once mentioned by St. Paul in his
letter to the Colossians (cf. 4:16). Laodiceans enjoyed a very high prosperity
which may have contributed to their lukewarmness (mediocrity). Spiritual
lukewarmness and mediocrity are closely related, and neither should be the
direction a Christian life should take.
In the city of
Laodicea, there were hot springs or thermal baths which may have prompted the
indictment of spiritual lukewarmness used by St. John in this letter. From the
writings of St. Cassian, one of the founders of Western Monasticism, we read: Lukewarmness is something that needs to be
nipped in the bud. No one should attribute going astray to a sudden collapse;
but rather to his/her moving away from virtue little by little, through
prolonged mental laziness…this is the way that habits take root, without one’s
even noticing and eventually lead to the sudden collapse. It is like a
beautiful house which collapses on a fine day without warning, due to defect in
its foundation or long neglect by the occupants. As is written in Proverbs
16: 18 – Pride goes before destruction
and a haughty spirit before a fall.
In this letter we find
another familiar image, that of Christ knocking on a door with no door knob on
the outside. It is a picture of God’s intimacy inviting us to let Him in, using
that key we spoke of in the previous letter. It can happen in any of a thousand
ways in the course of our life.
We should be vigilant,
like the wise virgins. We should be listening for His knock, ready at any time
to open the door. Our Lord is waiting for our response to His call and when we
make the effort to respond to His call, and to revive our interior life, we
will experience that indescribable joy of intimacy with HIM.
At first it will be a
bit difficult. You must make an effort to seek out the Lord, to give Him thanks
through prayer. How is your prayer life going? At times during the day do you
feel the impulse to have a longer talk with Him? Do you sometimes whisper to
Him about things you will talk about with Him later?
Prayer becomes continuous
like the beating of a heart, like our pulse (woe to us if it stops). Without
this presence of God there is no contemplative life, and without a
contemplative life, our working for Christ is worth very little, for vain is the builder’s toil if the house
is not of the Lord’s building (Psalm 126:1).
Behold I stand at the door and knock. Make sure
you do not lose the key which I have given you to open.