Reading of the Word of God

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Whoever lives and believes in me
will never die.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Revelation 16,8-21

The fourth angel emptied his bowl over the sun and it was made to scorch people with its flames;

but though people were scorched by the fierce heat of it, they cursed the name of God who had the power to cause such plagues, and they would not repent and glorify him.

The fifth angel emptied his bowl over the throne of the beast and its whole empire was plunged into darkness. People were biting their tongues for pain,

but instead of repenting for what they had done, they cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and sores.

The sixth angel emptied his bowl over the great river Euphrates; all the water dried up so that a way was made for the kings of the East to come in.

Then from the jaws of dragon and beast and false prophet I saw three foul spirits come; they looked like frogs

and in fact were demon spirits, able to work miracles, going out to all the kings of the world to call them together for the war of the Great Day of God the Almighty.-

Look, I shall come like a thief. Blessed is anyone who has kept watch, and has kept his clothes on, so that he does not go out naked and expose his shame.-

They called the kings together at the place called, in Hebrew, Armageddon.

The seventh angel emptied his bowl into the air, and a great voice boomed out from the sanctuary, 'The end has come.'

Then there were flashes of lightning and peals of thunder and a violent earthquake, unparalleled since humanity first came into existence.

The Great City was split into three parts and the cities of the world collapsed; Babylon the Great was not forgotten: God made her drink the full winecup of his retribution.

Every island vanished and the mountains disappeared;

and hail, with great hailstones weighing a talent each, fell from the sky on the people. They cursed God for sending a plague of hail; it was the most terrible plague.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

If you believe, you will see the glory of God,
thus says the Lord.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

The fourth bowl of divine anger is poured out on the sun; it is the same thing that happened when the fourth trumpet was blown. The plague increases the temperature of the sun, which then burns everything and scorches people. It is striking that the plagues of Revelation are so incredibly similar to the environmental crisis that today affects the entire planet. The obtuseness, the selfishness, and the arrogance of men and women prefigure the unhappiness and the condemnation that comes from sin. Despite the torment of these plagues, people still do not repent; in fact, their words only become more blasphemous. Pride shuts up their hearts and minds and makes them deaf to every call for change. The fifth bowl seems to repeat the ninth plague of Egypt, the plague of darkness, the symbol of oppressive power, incarnated this time by imperial Rome. Likewise, when the fifth trumpet is blown a curtain of smoke rises from the shaft of the infernal bottomless pit and darkens the sun and the sky (9:20). Nonetheless, despite these trials and torments, the wicked once again react with rebellion and blasphemy. They bite their lips in pain, but they continue to blaspheme. It is the blindness of those who persevere in their wicked thoughts. Jesus’ words to the Pharisees are worth meditating: "If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, ‘We see’, your sin remains" (Jn 9:41). The sixth bowl transforms the Euphrates, the biblical symbol of the Babylonian superpower (Is 8:6-8), into a military road open to the kings of the East. The Lord who opened the Red Sea and the Jordan can also open the Euphrates, even if it is to condemn and not to save. John then introduces a sort of satanic trinity made up of the dragon, the Beast, and the false prophet. From it come forth three "foul" or "demonic spirits" that oppose the Holy Spirit and his gifts. They give rise to an alliance of Evil that even gathers together the earthly authorities into a great and powerful coalition prepared for the final battle, the "great day" of divine judgment. But the Lord will come "like a thief" and break the power of evil as he triumphs over it. Therefore, believers have to be vigilant, that is, they have to persevere in prayer and love, which are like the clothing that covers them and makes them worthy of victory on the mountain of Megiddo. Here God’s definitive victory over evil occurs through the intervention of the seventh angel, who strikes the air with the contents of his bowl. A voice comes from the throne and cries out: "It is done!" Immediately a universal cataclysm is unleashed: lightning, rumbling, thunder, and a great earthquake that shakes the earth. Even Babylon, the "great city," is shaken, along with "the cities of the nations." Babylon, symbol of the idolatrous city where neither God nor humanity is respected and where every kind of injustice is committed, is forced to drink "the wine-cup of the fury of [God’s] wrath." The whole of life is shaken; islands disappear and scatter. But the people affected not only notecase to mend their ways, they continue to blaspheme God because of what is happening. But the Lord does not abandon his people. The Lord of life and history reigns sovereign over all other powers.