Alpha Omega

Chapter one is basically an introduction to the prophecy. St. John begins by revealing that this is a revelation from Jesus Christ to all children of God. It comes through our Lord’s servant, who St. John sees as an angel (v.1). Verse two says that the servant of God has himself revealed to the children of God what he has learned about God.

It is our Lord who appears to St. John (v.10-16) on the Lord’s Day (v.10), which is Sunday, and entreats him to write down the vision that he would presently see (v.11). As noted in the previous chapter, this vision concerns events that St. John had seen, events that were happening at that time he was having his vision and events that would shortly come to pass (v.19).

This verse (and 22:7) is meant for all those who interpret this prophetic book (readeth it); for all those who believe this interpretation (heareth it); and for all those who obey this interpretation (keepeth it). The meaning for the latter part of the verse (and 22:10) is that with the execution of Jesus Christ the evil one’s judgement has been established. The “time is at hand,” because it is time to reveal Satan’s judgement.

The devil is constantly trying to destroy all that belongs to God. Satan, working through his henchmen, will not stop in his efforts until he is either rendered completely helpless or he succeeds in destroying the whole earth. However, he will be prevented from succeeding until the final day and hour. At which time the Blessed Mother Mary, at Her Son’s command, will release him from his bottomless pit. Then he will be allowed to destroy this world.

But he will not be allowed to touch either theological truth or scientific truth, for he cannot destroy that which belongs to God. Since God is Truth, he cannot touch it. One should note that the evil one can be rendered completely powerless should everyone just absolutely refuse to break the law.

Jesus Christ reveals in verse seven that all souls will see God. Every soul will regret breaking the law for this is what condemned our Lord. This is a person’s personal judgement. Every soul must appear before God and render an account of the deeds they committed while on earth. For all the damned souls, God our Father is the last thing that they see. They try to kill Him but are blinded by His light and fall short of their goal. Then they stumble and fall into the bottomless prison of their own deathly souls. Here they will remain for all eternity.

As for the children of God, the vision of God is the first thing they see upon entering into the kingdom of God. They rejoice in the knowledge that they have completed their mission and are raised into heaven for all eternity. Since heaven is omnipresent, eternity is existing is a state of omnipresence.

The children of God, having washed themselves free of the filth of sin, have the light of God, who dwells within their souls, shining out through their souls. They are full of light. When they stand before our Lord for their judgement they are not blinded, because the light they have shining out is equal to the light shining into their souls.

But, as noted, the henchmen of Satan have not washed their souls and are full of the filth of sin, which enshrouds them in darkness. When they appear before God His light blinds them.

In the eighth verse (also v.17, 21:6 and 22:13) Jesus Christ tells St. John that He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. These are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. What one learns here is that God is the first cause and last end of all creation. He exists before the creation; He exists now; and He exists after the creation. He is everything that is in existence. God is the only thing that exists.

This does not mean that one should worship everything that is in existence. One should worship only our Lord Jesus Christ. Nor does it mean that anyone here on earth is God, for Jesus Christ is exclusively divine. What it does mean is that nothing exists in this world unless our Lord created it within Himself and He within it, all as a part of Himself. However, He created this world only as an imitation (a shadow so to speak) of His world.

Thus, He is the All; He is the Amen. He has complete control over everything that happens. All good He causes to be and all evil exists because He has allowed it to be.

In verse nine St. John calls himself the brother of all mankind. This is his way of saying that all human beings are equal to each other in the eyes of God our Father. There is no one person that is superior in any way to any other human being; all human beings are equal in the eyes of the law.

Many militant individuals believe that the use of the term brother and other seemingly sexist terminology found in the Holy Bible is an insult to females and other races and groups. These individuals want to rewrite the Holy Bible in “non-sexist” terminology.

But the insult is theirs. First of all, they forget that the writers of the Holy Scriptures were people of their time and the language they used reflects the many and varied cultures in which they lived. But they were also people who were inspired by God our Father. God is for all people, all nations, all mankind.

God would not choose, as one of the instruments through which He would address all mankind — past, present and future — someone who considered themself superior to a particular class of human beings or someone whose beliefs were filled with heresy. Hence, St. John’s use of the term “brother” is not sexist. It is his way of saying that he is equal to all human beings.

Secondly, as one is able to discern from the books of Ruth, Esther, Judith, the Canticles, Pontius Pilot’s wife (Mt.27:19) and many other women who were chosen by God to give His message to mankind, God is not a sexist. If the terminology of the Holy Bible appears to be prejudiced, then it is those individuals who are interpreting it and are adding something to it that is not there.

The militant individuals also forget that each human being is both a son and a daughter of God our Father (who is also our Mother). Each human is also both a Bride and a Groom of Jesus Christ. This is because one’s soul can be said to be both male and female; one’s soul is both positive and negative. Thus each person is both a sister and brother to everyone else.

One cannot go forward to God by giving into militant extremism or changing one’s language. One goes forward to God by believing in truth.

St. John then writes that he is in the spirit (v.10) meaning that God is giving him a vision. While he is in this elated state, he hears a great voice (v.11). It is as a trumpet for it is announcing the beginning of a great revelation. He then describes the man he sees (v.12-16).

The description that he gives is symbolic for one like to the Son of man (v.13), for it is the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who he is describing. He has no sin and wears the garments of one who has not sinned.

His voice sounds like many waters (v.15) because everyone in existence understands Him; it matters not what language they speak. It is as though God can speak 1,000 languages with one utterance. He speaks once and everyone understands His word.

He is alive and was dead (v.8) because he rose from the dead. The two-edged sword coming out of His mouth (v.16) is symbolic for the two great commandments or laws our Lord has given to man. The one is love of God and the other is love of one’s neighbor.

If an individual claims to love God and offers up numerous prayers and sacrifices but does not also love mankind, then such a person is in sin and this sin will bring on condemnation. Converesly, if an individual claims to love mankind and helps their neighbor but does not also love God, then this sin will bring on condemnation.

Hence, many will stand before God our Father at their judgement, claiming to have prayed to Him and to have proclaimed His word, but He will tell them to depart, for they have no love of man in their souls. Many other individuals will stand before our Lord claiming to have worked and slaved helping man to have a better, more peaceful world in which to live, but God will tell them to depart also, for they have no love of God in their souls.

One therefore learns that one must have love of both God and man in order to gain entrance into the kingdom of heaven.

Chapters two and three represent sort of an inaugural vision for the entire revelation. The two chapters may be understood collectively as one disclosure. They are intended to be both an admonition and a hope to non-Catholic Christians and all those souls – of all faiths – who are not in the state of grace.

One must remember that it is the Christian religion; the Roman Catholic Church is the one true church of that religion. All other Christian churches must ultimately stem their origin from the Holy Mother Church.

Just as the Jews were the one chosen people of God and the Samaritans were a “wayward branch” of the chosen people, so too is it with Catholicism and the non-Catholic Christian denominations. God only has one true church, the Roman Catholic Church, the instrument through which God officially communicates with man and presents Himself to man.

This does not mean that the non-Catholic Christian denominations do not teach the truth. One can obtain truth from the Christian denominations, but the Catholic Church is the instrument through which God officially communicates with the world; She is His official ambassador.

Nor does this mean that only Catholics can enter into heaven or that Catholics have a special place in heaven. Heaven is open to all souls with love in their heart. Should a person believe that heaven is open only to Catholics or that Catholics have a special place reserved for them in heaven, then our Lord will admonish such a person with a morality tale of a good non-Catholic; just as He admonished the Jews with the parable of the good Samaritan (Lk.10:29-37).

There are many non-Catholics in this world who have a great love of God and man, sometimes more so than some Catholic Christians. It is love that the children of God will be judged upon. The children of God will not be upon judged whether they are Catholic or non-Catholic Christian or even non-Christian. One’s beliefs are of secondary importance in one’s judgement. One’s love of neighbor is of primary importance in their judgement. Our Lord made this very clear in the parable of the Good Samaritan.

One may say that going to God is like zeroing in on a target. The closer to the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church one keeps their faith, the closer one is to the center. Her teachings are the test by which all other faiths will be judged.

Non-Catholic Christian denominations may be seen as the first ring out from the center. All non-Christian religions, such as the Judaism, Islam, Zoroastrianism and other High God theologies, may be seen as successive rings out from the center. Farther out still would be other theologies. The farther from the truth one keeps their faith, the farther from the center is their soul.

Those who do not believe in God and those who worship Satan and death completely miss the target.

One should note that centering one’s faith on truth is not the same as coming to the innermost mansion of love that was discussed in the second book of this trilogy. Nor is it the same as centering one’s hope on God. The more one depends on God for their needs, the closer to the center of hope is their soul. Conversely, the more a person depends on secularism and material goods for their needs, the farther from God is their soul.

Thus, there are three distinct “planes” or levels of one’s soul upon which one must center; these are faith, hope and love. These three theological virtues are an inseparable trinity. Mortal sin is the only thing that can separate and dissolve the trinity of one’s soul.

One learns that non-Catholic Christian denominations have the word of God and that these churches are of God from the final verse of the preceding chapter, the chapter in which He first addresses them.

The number of churches (seven) that St. John mentions in these chapters are a symbolic number of churches that represent all the non-Catholic Christian denominations. The names St. John gives for these seven churches are symbolic names for all Christian churches. Each denomination has an angel who watches over and protects the faithful of each church and will intercede in their behalf to Jesus Christ at their personal judgement.

The candlesticks represent a light of truthful teachings that each denomination maintains and teaches to their congregations. One must not forget that a church is built upon its truthful teachings, not upon its congregation; who are the receptors of the word.

One of these non-Catholic Christian Churches is the Eastern or Greek Orthodox, created by a schism between the Holy See at Rome and the Patriarch of Constantinople (Istanbul) during the eighth century.

Others are the Lutheran, created by Martin Luther (1483 - 1546); the Anglican (Episcopalian) founded by Henry VIII (1491 - 1547); the Puritans, established by John Calvin (1509 - 1564); the Presbyterian, started by John Knox (1505 - 1572); the Congregationalist (Pentecostal), established by Robert Brown in 1583.

Still others are the Baptist, which was begun by John Smyth about 1600; the Methodist created by John Wesley in 1739; the Disciples of Christ, founded by Thomas Campbell in 1827; the Mormon Church, started by Joseph Smith in 1830; the Salvation Army, begun by William Booth in 1865; the Christian Science, started by Mary Baker Eddy in 1879.

There are other non-Catholic Christian Churches that are not mentioned in this book, and each of them is symbolically seen as churches in Asia by St. John.

One knows that the non-Catholic Christian denominations are acceptable to God our Father and that the faithful of each of them will receive the life of Jesus Christ from God’s judgement of them. As He says to the church of Ephesus:

Thy first love is of course the Mother Church that was founded by Jesus Christ upon the faith of St. Peter. They have left Her by following the example of Martin Luther, John Calvin, and others who abandoned the Catholic Church to form their own church.

The Catholic Church may be likened to a merchant sailing vessel at sea. The captain is not the owner; he is just the overseer. All aboard must obey him (Heb.13:17). If a person believes that the captain is derelict in his duty, such does not give him or her the right to abandon the ship in the middle of the voyage. Those who do not follow the directives of the captain of the ship are among those who have abandoned Her in Her hour of greatest need.

To believe that the captain could sink the ship is not to have any faith in God. A true child of God would not abandon the ship but would put their faith, hope and love in God. A true child of God would let the owner of the ship take care of the drunken captain when the ship returns to Her home port.

The apostles whom the non-Catholic Christians have found to be liars (v.2) are the pseudo-Christian quack evangelists, priests, deacons, ministers and other clergy (both Catholic and non-Catholic) who distort the word of God in order to enrich themselves and propagate their own prejudicial beliefs and sexual morals. These pseudo-Christians are the Nicolaites of verse six.

The children of God have listened to the teachings of these wolves in sheep’s clothing and have rejected both them and their beliefs. They have put their faith in God. Thus, they have tried the Nicolaites and have not fainted. Our Lord knows their faith and their good works and He knows that they will endure until He comes.

One must not forget that with all non-Catholic Christian denominations our Lord has His faithful followers. For example, to the church of Smyrna He says:

The ten days of tribulation in prison are for a short period of time to be spent in purgatory. This is for purification of their souls. Many individuals deny the existence of purgatory but our Lord affirmed its existence (Mt.5:25-26).

One should note that all souls (Catholic, non-Catholic Christian and non-Christian) spend the same amount of “time” in purgatory. Those who receive absolution from a priest or through obtainment of spiritual perfection before physical death may be said to spend their time in purgatory while still alive in the physical world. Those Catholics, non-Catholic Christians and non-Christians who do not wash the feet of their soul serve their sentence immediately after their physical death. Then they go to heaven.

Purgatory is a temporary part of the spiritual world. One may liken it to a hospital where injured souls – those with venial sin and with unwashed sin on their soul – go for medication. While hell may be likened to a morgue where dead souls – those with unwashed mortal sin on their soul – go to await their burial. However, hell is for all eternity; purgatory is not.

What is hard to understand is that all souls in purgatory have already been ransomed by our Lord at His Resurrection. That is why one says in the Apostles Creed: He descended into hell. He descended into death to ransom the souls there.

Our Lord came in the middle of man’s spiritual growth and development. Everything before Him prefigured and pointed to Him. Similarly, everything after Him personifies and points back to Him. Since He and His works are omnipresent and He draws all creation to Himself, one may therefore conclude that His ransom of all mankind is from all eternity to all eternity. His one saving act is from the beginning to the end.

When the last soul in purgatory had completely paid their debt to God (Mt.5:25-26; 18:34), this prison ceased to exist. Then after three days had elapsed in the physical world, our Lord arose from the dead, bringing all the saved souls with Him.

What is hard to understand is that purgatory still exists relative to this world. Although Jesus Christ has already ransomed all souls in purgatory, for all the people of this physical world who have not met their physical death it still exists. In the omnipresence of God it did not exist before the creation. Nor does it exist after the end. It exists only at the “time” of the death and Resurrection of our Lord. Which in God’s omnipresence is happening now. But because the end has not yet come, the Mother Church must continue to proclaim purgatory’s existence.

As for time in a non-temporal world, one can only say that it is not the same as perceived in the physical world. The time a soul spends in purgatory is being there. One may liken time spent in purgatory to absorption lines in the light of a star’s spectrum. The less faith, hope and love a person has the more dark areas or dark lines there are in their soul. Those with perfect love may be said to emit a pure, continuous spectrum of light.

Those individuals with mortal sin upon their soul emit no light at all; they are as black holes.

A soul is not released from purgatory until all the impurities are purged from their faith, hope and love. The amount of purification each soul needs is relative to the amount of faith, hope and love in their soul. The more of each of these one’s soul has, the less their purgatory will seem to be.

Hence, for a soul who needs much purification their sentence will seem to be greater, while a soul who needs little purification their “time” there will seem to be less. This is true for everyone — Catholic, non-Catholic Christian and non-Christian.

Some may still be confused over this. There are two ways to get into the state of grace and released from purgatory: absolution from a priest or through entrance into the inner most mansion of our Lord’s spiritual world.

This latter takes great courage and humility. This humility entails one admitting from the heart (not from one’s knowledge) of one’s complete worthlessness. The vast majority of people do not posses this humility. This is why our Lord created the Sacrament of Penance or Reconciliation.

One also needs to remember that absolution washes the foundation or feet of one’s soul. It does not grant one entrance into our Lord’s inner most castle. With absolution one is admitted into the outer levels of God’s kingdom. But with the obtainment of spiritual perfection one is admitted into His inner most chamber.

Once a person (Catholic, non-Catholic Christian or non-Christian) has admitted their sin from the heart and gained entrance into the inner most mansion they are automatically in the state of grace (Ps.50:9). God will give this information to His child and set them free to enjoy all the pleasures of His world.

The last works, which are more than the former (2:19) are the good deeds accomplished by those who are not in the state of grace but have asked our Lord for forgiveness of their sins. Then they are allowed into heaven. Thus, a door is open to them (3:8).

Those who have a little strength are the faithful followers of the non-Catholic Christian denominations. Their weak spiritual strength comes from their weak or little faith. It is little because they do not believe in all the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church.

Those of the Synagogue of Satan (2:9) are the pseudo-Christian, quack evangelists, priests, deacons, ministers and other clergy (both Catholic and non-Catholic) who teach their own distorted interpretation of God’s word in order to glorify themselves and propagate their own perverted beliefs and sexual morals. They dwell in Satan’s throne, for they teach lies and are not true teachers of the word of God. They are nothing more than wolves in sheep’s clothing.

The faithful of the non-Catholic Christian Churches are condemned as heretics by these wolves in sheep’s clothing (2:9) but it is these Nicolaites who are not of God. They are not of God because they offer only lip service to our Lord.

One must remember that with all non-Catholic Christian denominations Jesus Christ has something against each one. That is, all non-Catholic Christians are promised salvation for maintaining a belief in Jesus Christ but they are admonished for not believing in all the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church.

Hence, each church and each member of each church is both praised and admonished, praised for believing in Jesus Christ and admonished for not believing in all truth. For example, to the church of Pergamus Jesus Christ says:

The works of the non-Catholic Christians are not full because they do not teach and believe in all the teachings of the Holy Mother Church. Also, they have yet to receive absolution for their sins.

They are not rich with the complete word of God and this is why they are wretched and miserable. They do not see this poverty, for they believe that they are rich with the true and complete word of God. Although it is true that a belief in Jesus Christ will enrich one’s soul and help one to see and to understand the word of God. But they are blind because they do not perceive that their beliefs are not founded in total truth.

They have not completely washed their souls of all sin and that is why they are naked. They are not clothed with the full grace of God. But still our Lord tells them to maintain their faith and they will be given life (v.2:11,25).

The Roman Catholic Church cannot be one of these churches because our Lord does not have anything against the teachings of the church of the children of Israel (2:14). If God has something against the teachings of His own church, then He has not protected Her against all heretical teachings as He promised He would do (Mt.16:18-19; 28:19-20).

The Holy Mother Church has God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit protecting Her, and to intercede in behalf of the faithful at their judgement, She has the Virgin Mother Mary. However, the non-Catholic Christian Churches have only an angel both protecting their faithful and to intercede in their behalf.

One may say that the Roman Catholic Church has God in the flesh and in word — which may be seen in the Holy Eucharist and the crucifix and may be said to be as the light of the Sun. While the non-Catholic Christian denominations have Him only in word — which may be seen in an empty cross and may be said to be as the light of the moon.

Finally, one must take into consideration the fact that all seven churches are in Asia (Rev.1:11). This is symbolic in the fact that they are not in Europe with the Holy Mother Church. The Holy See is in Rome and has been in that city since before St. Peter’s martyrdom.

Once the visions of the non-Catholic Christian Churches have ceased, chapter four begins with another series of visions. St. John sees a door opened in heaven. Our Lord calls him up to see other prophecies which must be done hereafter (v.1). He immediately has another vision (v.2). Chapters four and five then describe the throne of God — from whom these visions and prophecies ultimately come.

The reason that the non-Catholic Christian Churches are mentioned before the throne of God is described is due, as mentioned earlier, to the overlay of the chapters, and because this is a revelation of hope to these churches (v.1:11).

Again, it was revealed to St. John in this manner in order to ensure to the children of God that anyone professing to have the interpretation of the book of Revelations would give the correct interpretation, the interpretation that our Lord wants them to have.

Verse three begins with St. John describing the throne he sees. The throne and the one sitting on it (Jesus Christ) are likened to precious stones because our Lord wishes to emphasize the great riches and joys that are there waiting for all those who obey the law of love to their neighbor. This is an echo of what Isaias prophesied and what St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians.

The crowns of gold on the heads of the twenty-four ancients (v.4) represent the kingship each one has as master of the castle of his own soul; our Lord is King of kings (v.19:16). The seats upon which they sit symbolize the authority they obtained through obedience to the law of love. The more obedience one gives to the law — that is, the more love one has in his or her soul — the greater the authority one receives from God our Father. Their white garments represent the cleanliness of their souls.

The seven spirits of God (v.5) are the seven virtues: humility, justice, chastity, prudence, temperance, fortitude and joy in the good fortune of others. These virtues help one to better perceive the entanglements of the materialism of this world. They offer one a defense against the works of Satan. Hence, in the next chapter (v.5:6) they are described as eyes and horns in the Lamb of God. Those who do not practice these virtues are spiritually blind.

The four living creatures (v.6-7) are figurements for the spirits of the four gospel writers. The lion represents St. Mark. The calf is symbolic for St. Luke. The man is a depiction of St. Matthew. The eagle is a symbol for St. John.

The six wings on each of them (v.8) denote the freedom from materialistic desires and goals they possessed while alive in the physical world. This helped them to perceive clearly the deceptions of the evil one, which are found in materialism. Hence, in verse eight they are full of eyes.

The twenty-four ancients are a figurement for the prophets of the Old Testament. The reason that only twenty-four ancients were seen by St. John is because these represent all the prophets (and pre-figurements) of Jesus Christ from Adam to St. Joseph, husband of Mary. These souls never stopped trying to conceive of a better understanding of God. They continued to seek truth and justice in all their works. Thus, all the world can see that the prophets and pre-figurements of Jesus Christ are holy children of God.

Finally, in verses eight, nine, ten and eleven the gospel writers and the twenty-four ancients give praise to God and honor Him as the Creator.

Chapter five says that the book is written within and without (v.1) meaning that it contains many secrets of God. These are revealed in this trilogy. It is sealed symbolizing that its interpretation must come from God.

Our Lord reveals here that no one in heaven, on the earth or those souls in purgatory is worthy enough to release the secrets of St. John’s apocalyptic revelation or to understand the mysteries that are written within it. This is proclaimed all over the world by a child of God who has a great faith, hope and love of God and man. That is why he is seen as a strong angel with a loud voice.

In verse four St. John weeps because no one is worthy enough to reveal the mysteries of Jesus Christ. He weeps because he instinctively knows that the mysteries held by the book will help mankind, and he wishes for mankind to learn of them. He fears that they will not be revealed. However, one of the ancient prophets comforts him and tells him not to worry.

Jesus Christ is the only one who is worthy enough to open the mysteries of the Revelations and reveal its secrets. He has not sinned against God our Father and He was not created, as is man, “of the dust of the earth.” Thus, only He can unveil the mysteries of St. John’s book.

In verse seven St. John sees our Lord take the book from the right hand of God our Father. This again symbolizes that one must obtain the interpretation from Jesus Christ. The next verse reveals our Lord unveiling the mysteries of the book. The gospel writers and the ancient prophets all fall down at this (v.8) symbolizing the great mysteries that the book contains.

The remainder of chapter five describes the praises of honor given to God and prayers of the angels and saints. The new song they sing (v.9) is the same song of 14:3 and 15:3. It will be discussed when these chapters are interpreted. The number of them was thousands of thousands (v.11), signifying that the number of saints from all faiths that will eventually go to heaven is an uncountable number of souls.

Alpha Omega

The Apocalypse Unveiled