Offered at St. Gertrude’s Parish in Oshawa Oct. 12, the discussion aims to tackle John’s highly illustrative text of the apocalypse using the faces of Christ, angelic hymns and other associated themes as pillars of understanding for those in attendance.
Holding a Doctorate in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University, a Licentiate in Sacred Scripture at the Pontifical Biblical Institute, a Master of Divinity from St. Augustine’s Seminary, a Bachelor of Sacred Theology from Saint Paul University in Ottawa and a B.A. in Philosophy from the University of Toronto, there is no questioning Nusca’s qualifications for breaking down the complex book.
The Book of Revelation has been an area of supreme interest for Nusca for a long time, having published a book the seminar borrows its name from, The Christ of the Apocalypse: Contemplating the Faces of Jesus in the Book of Revelation, in 2018. He showed fascination even back in the early 1990s when he wrote his doctoral dissertation on the Book of Revelation.
Now, the president of Toronto’s St. Augustine’s Seminary is hoping to shed light on some of the deeper meanings many Catholics may not be fully unaware of.
“The word that comes to me over and over again is hope, the book of Revelation contains a very strong message about hope. No matter what happens personally or collectively, God is trying to bring about the new creation, the new Heaven, the new Earth,” Nusca said. “For me, it is about teaching people and giving them a spiritual takeaway that they can begin to understand this hope.”
As he explains further in a 2021 post to the Archdiocese of Toronto’s website, the bizarre images confronted in the Book of Revelation such as Four Horsemen, the Seventh Seal’ Armageddon, the Number of the Beast, locusts and falling stars, have “exercised a curious fascination upon the human imagination over the centuries.” However, the often-overlooked messages of worship, new creation, prayer and unity with Jesus are what the book truly offers.
“It is very much about finding hope in a time of crisis. John wants you to go through the open door into heaven to stand with the angels in worship, prayer and the spiritual life,” he explained. “People tend to focus so much on the end of the world, death, destruction, falling stars and the Antichrist, but let us remember that God’s final speech in the Book of Revelation is, ‘I make all things new’ (Rev. 21:5). We can experience that now, through the life of grace, the life of prayer and the life of the sacraments.”
The upcoming presentation at St. Gertrude’s comes at an oddly poignant time, with more than one external factor making now such a vital time to engage in messages of hope.
The first and perhaps most pressing is the current state of our world today, as Nusca himself commenting on social problems such as pessimism, depression and even worldwide conflict and harmful ideologies and how they take the place of the chaos seen within the Book of Revelation.
As he says, those who are described as the victors are those who have given brave, courageous witness against the values of the Empire. John, like Moses in the Old Testament setting before the peoples’ life and death, calls us to choose either life in this world or everlasting life.
With that, he looks forward to the upcoming Jubilee Year’s theme of Pilgrims of Hope as the perfect time to gain a valuable understanding of what it means to hope for something better through Christ.
“We are being reminded that we are pilgrims of hope, to yearn already in desire for the treasures of Heaven, and to become again the new city and the new earth already in our hearts,” he said. “There is a beautiful expression by St. Bonaventure as people make predictions about the end of the world, ‘Into the new Jerusalem, no one steps unless it the first descends into the heart by grace,’ this is what we are called to be beginning now. We do not have to wait until the end of the world.”
While hours could be spent discussing the history and interpretation of the book itself, Nusca hopes his discussion on Oct. 12 acts as a quicker spiritual exercise with anecdotes, explanations and references surrounding the four faces of Christ in Revelation.
He is also working on a series of lectures on the Book of Revelation that the National Catholic Broadcasting Council is looking to produce. These will provide further explanation of the perplexing book and will likely be available via YouTube.
Register free of charge at stgertrudesos@archtoronto.org.