Throughout the book, the evangelist John has symbolic visions of
the Church, visions of the nations and rulers—the principalities and powers who
persecute the Church, visions of the worship of God in heaven by the saints and
angels.
In the passage, today, John sees 144,000, having the name of
God on their forehead, who had been ransomed by the blood of the Lamb. Nearly
every number in Revelation is symbolic. 144,000 is an interesting number—it is
a perfect square—twelve times twelve—times a thousand. The number 144,000 is
found again to describe the saints, and also much later, in the penultimate
chapter of Revelation—it describes the architectural dimensions of the wall of
the heavenly Jerusalem “144 cubits according to the standard unit of
measurement”. Also, 12 foundations stones of the wall, each with the 12 names
of the 12 apostles. That’s 144 names!
The 144,000 are us, the members of the Church, living, dead,
and future members, those who stand firmly on the foundation stones of the
twelve apostles—each of us who have been redeemed by the blood of Christ, who
mark our foreheads with the name of God “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit”.
The memorial of the presentation of Mary celebrates the
naming of Mary and her dedication to God. What a lovely coincidence that in our
Revelation reading, it is revealed, that the name we have received, the name
Christian, the name “Child of God”, the name “follower of Jesus” endures even
into heaven.
Mary is surely the model for all those with the name of
Christian—she is the model of faith, hope, and love, the model of all the
virtues, she is the model of trusting in God, and surrendering all to God; she
is the model of suffering with Christ and suffering for Christ; she is a model
for all Christian mothers, and a model for all Christians called to bear fruit
for the sake of the kingdom; she is the model of magnifying the goodness of God
through our own good works; she is the model of the marriage of grace and free
will; the model of Christian perfection to which we all are called.
Pope St. John Paul said, the Church from the beginning has
modeled her earthly journey on that of the Mother of God. “It is to her as Mother
and Model that the Church must look in order to understand in its completeness
the meaning of her own mission.”
May each of us consider today how we are being called more
deeply to follow Our Lady’s example in following the Lamb wherever he goes, for
the glory of God and salvation of souls.
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