The Lamb's Supper by Scott Hahn

The church I attend has been going through the Book of Revelation.  When I was reading Reasons to Believe (same author) I noticed that he had a book on the Book of Revelation as well.  His take was slightly different than that of my church/preacher.  It was extraordinarily interesting, and I will readily admit, made much more sense than any other view of Revelation I've heard.

He takes the sacrifices of the Old Testament and connects them with the death of Jesus at Calvary.  (Old Testaments sacrifices were often livestock - lambs, for instance, and Jesus is the Lamb who was the ultimate sacrifice.)  He also talks about the writings of the early Christians.  He discusses how Catholic Mass was conducted in the early, early church...which is remarkably consistent to my understanding of how it is conducted today.  There was a page that I found particularly interesting that showed the parts of Mass and the text in Rev that correlated to it.

What intrigued me the most though was the symbols in Rev.  Many, many preachers interpret them in an apocalyptic sense.  Hahn went through them in a liturgical sense - showing how they are really just symbols of the Mass.  When Heaven touches down to the New Jerusalem, which is Mount Zion, the Church of the Upper Room, he says that it is Mass.  So...essentially in Mass, some of Heaven comes down to the earth.  Which makes perfect sense given some of the occurrences in Mass (transubstantiation) wouldn't be able to happen without some Heavenly intervention. 

It also discusses how God in three persons is a family.  Pope John Paul II is quoted in the book as saying, "God in His deepest mystery is not a solitude, but a family, since he has in Himself fatherhood, sonship, and the essence of the family, which is love." 

The church I attend wraps up the series on Revelation this week.  I'm particularly curious to see how it is concluded.  I cannot say for sure, and probably shouldn't even write this as an attender of a non-denominational church, but I have a deep feeling it will make much less sense than the Hahn (Catholic) interpretation of Revelation.

I got a library card at the library near my work and picked up "Hail, Holy Queen" also by Hahn.  I'm going to read it soon and hopefully have many of my Mary questions answered.  I'm looking forward to it.

163 pages