Apocalypse 11:4-12 / Luke 20:27-40
The 1st reading is taken from the Book of the Apocalypse (or Revelation) and that is the last book in the Bible.
Yet to understand adequately the contents of that last book, we will need to have a general knowledge and understanding of the whole Bible.
The use of symbolic language and graphic descriptions can be interesting for reading but has to be understood in the context of the whole Bible and also of the tribulations of those times.
Of interest are the two witnesses, described as olive trees and lamp stands that stand before the Lord. Just who are they specifically?
Well, they could represent Elijah and Moses who was present at the Transfiguration and bearing witness to Christ.
Or they could also represent St. Peter and St Paul who bore witness to Christ with their lives in Rome.
But the point of the passage of the 1st reading is that even in the face of trials and tribulations, of hostility and harassment, the Church must continue to bear witness to Christ.
Christians will be persecuted and many will die as martyrs, but God will certainly save them and grant them their eternal reward.
They must persevere and be faithful and believe in Christ who Himself died and rose from the dead.
What they believed and died for is also what we believe - God is not God of the dead but of the living, and all who truly believe in the risen Christ will surely be saved.
That would be enough for our direction in life and beyond.