Pray for Nourishment

A Reflection on the First Reading for August 15th, 2021:
​The Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

---

Revelation
11.19a; 12.1-6a, 10ab

God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple.

A great portent appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pangs, in the agony of giving birth.

Then another portent appeared in heaven: a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. Then the dragon stood before the woman who was about to bear a child, so that he might devour her child as soon as it was born.

And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron. But her child was snatched away and taken to God and to his throne; and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, so that there she can be nourished for one thousand two hundred sixty days.

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, proclaiming, “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ.”
​

Most of the time, I do not dwell on the Book of Revelations. I find reading this book challenging because it is full of imagery and a lot of symbolism which I will need to spend time researching about in order to understand the message fully.

My research on this reading revealed the victory of Christ on the cross over evil, which crushed Satan’s power. The mention of the ark of the covenant reminds Christians that the God who protected His people from their enemies in the past is also with them now.

The passage speaks of a woman in the “agony of giving birth … the dragon stood before the woman ... so that he might devour her child as soon as it was born.” However, as soon as the child was born, the child was quickly seized and brought to God and the woman was swept away to a place God prepared for her to be nourished. Then a voice was heard proclaiming, “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ.”

Again, the evil one was not successful as the newborn child was seized and brought to God even before He could be devoured by the dragon. 

Today as I reflect on this passage, and read and reread it to gain insight on how it could apply to my life, the message seems to me to be loud and clear: The woman could represent the Church and the dragon could be the many challenges that the Church faces today that threaten to devour and kill it. The message to me is to pray for our Church and it’s leaders. For those of us who remain in the Church despite the challenges that it faces in the light of the issues concerning residential schools or the occurrences of sexual abuse by some of its clerics, among many other accusations, I ask that we pray for Her. 

The voice proclaiming the power and authority of our God indicates that God will not forsake His Church and that she will eventually overcome her challenges. We do need to pray for wisdom and guidance from above for its leaders — that the problems she faces may be resolved in a way that only God in His infinite wisdom would know how to resolve.

While most of us are affected by the issues the Church faces today, many of us are still either indifferent or are not concerned by them. Let us all be mindful of what’s happening. The issues have been addressed in the past by many pastors. Let us heed their call for understanding and for prayers.

Ut in omnibus glorificetur Deus - So that, in all things, God may be glorified.
(Saint Benedict)




Liz Venezuela
​

---