The End and the Beginning
“Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.”
Bosch’s Last Judgement, particularly in its nightmarish scenes of judgment, serves as a haunting commentary on the themes of apocalypse and perseverance in the face of tribulation, echoing the warnings from the book of Daniel and the prophecy of Jesus in Mark. Here we witness an eerie, twisted landscape populated by tormented souls and monstrous contraptions, a vision of the end as Bosch imagined it: chaotic, surreal, and filled with symbols of fallen human indulgence and terror. In his meticulous depiction of bizarre instruments and distorted figures, Bosch visualizes a world where every deed, every intention, has consequences in the eternal ledger.
In the context of Daniel’s prophetic words about the wise shining "like stars forever," Bosch’s infernal imagery offers a stark contrast: here is the fate of those who have lived without wisdom, without righteousness. Yet even amid the chaos, there is a strange beauty to Bosch’s work. The detail and inventiveness in each grotesque figure convey a universe alive with God’s justice, where the ultimate victory belongs to those who, as Hebrews reminds us, “preserve their souls.” Bosch calls us to reflect on our own lives and the paths we choose, challenging us to consider our actions in light of eternity.
But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.
– Hebrews 10:39
Twenty-Sixth Sunday after Pentecost
Texts for This Week
Prayer
Stir up, O Lord, the wills of your faithful people, that bringing forth in abundance the fruit of good works, they may be abundantly rewarded when our Savior Jesus Christ comes to restore all things; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Scriptures
Daniel 12
Psalm 16
Hebrews 10:31–39
Mark 13:14–23
Dies Irae
Giuseppe Verdi’s Dies Irae, with its relentless, thunderous power, captures the terror and inevitability of divine judgment. The choir’s furious repetition, the crashing timpani, and the dark urgency of the strings evoke a primal dread—the fear of a day when "the heavens will shake" and "the sun will be darkened," as Christ foretells in Mark. This is music that does not shrink back from the dreadfulness of judgment; rather, it demands that we confront the reality of that day when each of us stands before the throne. It’s an unsettling, almost brutal portrayal of the Last Judgment that leaves no room for complacency.
But in Verdi’s tempest, there is also a glimpse of the majesty of God’s justice. The relentless musical momentum mirrors the indomitable will of the divine, sweeping away all that is false and insincere. The piece captures the paradox of faith: we tremble at the judgment, yet we also rejoice in the certainty of God’s ultimate authority and mercy. The Psalmist’s assurance—“my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices; my body also rests secure”—resonates here, reminding us that our security lies in the mercy of God, not in the absence of judgment. In listening to Verdi’s Dies Irae, we are invited to confront our fears, entrusting our souls to the One who judges and redeems.
