The Open Window

Revelation 7:9-17

Phrases that spoke to me today:
• a great multitude that no one could number
• clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands
• washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb
• God will wipe away every tear from their eyes

Applying the Word to My Life:
John sees a multitude nobody could count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, dressed in white, palm branches in their hands, crying out that salvation belongs to God. These are the ones who came through the great tribulation, and washed their robes white in the blood of the Lamb. They hunger no more, thirst no more, and God himself wipes every tear from their eyes.

The Church has never treated that scene as a nice comparison to Sunday Mass. It is the same event. The sacrifice on the altar is not a new one stacked on top of Calvary - it is that same sacrifice, made present again, the same Lamb once slain now given to us under the appearance of bread and wine. And the ones gathered around it are not only the people in the pews. The saints already home are joined to that same offering, whether we can see them or not - which means going isn't just an obligation to check off. It is an opportunity to join the same company the first Christians joined when they broke bread together, shared by everyone in that building right now, and everyone still to come.

That is why Mass is not practice for heaven, the way training builds you up for a race still ahead of you. It is a window already propped open onto the destination itself - and an open window always begs a question: do you actually want to go through it? If what excites you about heaven is unlimited hamburgers or playing video games all day, but that same hour at Mass feels like a chore to sit through, your honest answer might be not yet. It means your center of gravity is still pointed at bigger versions of what you already like, not at the one thing this window is actually showing you.

We were made for that room before we ever took a step - it is where we were headed from the beginning. There is still a journey between here and that open window, though, and your answer can help show where you are on that path. That is what turns the pew into prayer, not just attendance - hoping you finish the journey, and hoping everyone around you finishes it too.

Look at the people around you the way John looked at that crowd - every nation, tribe, people, and language, never a group anyone hand-picked. Pray for the ones you love without any effort. Pray harder for the ones who make Sunday hardest to get through.

I do this myself most Sundays. I look at the people I love sitting near me, and my mind goes straight to that crowd - hoping every one of them ends up standing in it, and that somehow, by grace, I end up there too.

My Response for Today:
Today at Mass, or in prayer, I'll ask by name for someone I find hard to love to make it home someday too.