[00:00:05] Hello, my name is Sally Moriarty-Flask. Welcome to: From His Word to Our Hearts, my weekly Bible study podcast. Together we will explore the readings to be proclaimed at the Catholic Mass on Sunday, May 25, 2025, the Sixth Sunday of Easter.
[00:00:24] This week's episode is entitled: Promises Broken, Promises Kept, and in these readings, Jesus tells us that all promises have their roots in love - love of him and love of the Father. He's already done the hard work, and we get to reap the rewards.
[00:00:46] As we journey through the Readings this week, consider the following:
God always loves us first, always! And when God's love fills us, we can do anything. We can be strong; we can be at peace; we can be faithful; we can love others; we can keep the promises we make - even the difficult ones. Without that love, we struggle, we flounder, and we fail, even with the best of intentions. So, having God's love dwell deeply within us seems like a simple investment with immeasurable rewards, doesn't it?
[00:01:44] So, let's begin.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
[00:01:49] Heavenly Father, we praise you and we thank you for the gift of your great love. Help us to be aware of all the blessings that love brings us and strengthen us to share that love freely with others. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, the firstborn from the dead, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit for ever. Amen.
[00:02:13] In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
[00:02:17] Now that we have opened our hearts in prayer, let's listen to what God is telling us in the Scriptures. Our Gospel this week is from John 14: 23-29.
[00:02:30] “Jesus [said to his disciples:] ‘If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me does not keep my words; [yet] the word which you hear is not mine but [that of] the Father who sent me. These things I have spoken to you, while I am still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. [N]ot as the world gives do I give [it] to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, “I go away, and I will come [back] to you.” If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I go to the Father; for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place, you may believe.’”
[00:03:53] This is a continuation of Jesus' Farewell Discourse at the Last Supper… the same part of John's Gospel that we heard from last week. This is a really long discourse, it actually comprises three chapters. And the purpose of the Farewell Discourse is to teach the disciples what their life will be like after Jesus returns to his Father. And he really is doing his best to prepare them for that new reality. So, let's further explore what Jesus is saying to his disciples…
[00:04:34] “Jesus [said to his disciples:] ‘If a man loves me, he keeps my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.’”
[00:04:46] With those words, Jesus assures his disciples that God keeps his promises. He's talking about promises in general, certainly, but he's also talking about a very specific promise, first extended in Ezekiel 37. I talked about that last week, too. That promise, of course, says that Israel will be united in a new and lasting covenant of peace with one shepherd, from the line of King David, to rule as king over his people forever. His throne will last for all time. But that's not the only promise in Ezekiel 37. God also promises that his dwelling place shall be with his people, his sanctuary will be in their midst… that's what Jesus means when he says: “we will come and make our home” with our people. And those promises are based on a condition God sets before us… one condition. And what is that condition? Love!
[00:06:06] It's that simple and that complex. But that is the condition - love. We know that God always loves us first - we hear that over and over in the Scriptures, we know that from our own experience - and all he is asking is that we love him in return. Because if we do love God, then we are properly equipped to do everything else… we can be strong in the face of adversity; we can be faithful to God and to other people; we can love others fully and generously because we are constantly being filled with the gift of divine love; we can be joyful; we can do anything. And we can keep all the promises that we make - be they easy or difficult. There are other things that accompany that gift of love.
[00:07:21] First and foremost, the ability to obey God's commands… to obey the commands Jesus gives. And we heard one of those last week as well, right? Love one another as Jesus loves us. That's a really high bar that Jesus set for us, but with God's love, we can do it. That's what Jesus means when he says “keep my word” - that we will obey his commands. That seems like we receive almost immeasurable rewards for a simple investment of love, doesn't it? We are given the ability to do amazing things if we just say ‘yes’ to God's love and love him in return. Jesus goes on…
[00:08:24] “He who does not love me does not keep my words;”
[00:08:28] And that is the other side of the coin, isn't it?
[00:08:32] “[yet] the word which you hear is not mine but [that of] the Father who sent me.”
[00:08:38] In the Gospel two weeks ago, Jesus said that he and the Father are one. But here Jesus says that the words he speaks to his disciples are not his words, but they come from the Father. So, how do we reconcile those two statements? What does Jesus mean by that?
[00:08:57] How can they be one and not one at the same time? Well, that takes us to the very heart of the mystery of the Holy Trinity. And remember, a mystery is something we can never fully understand in this life. We can understand it to a certain extent, but never completely. And Jesus is teaching his disciples, including us, (in imperfect human words, in a way that we can understand it) the full truth of a perfect, divine reality… he's teaching us about the fullness of his relationship with the Father and with the Holy Spirit.
[00:09:54] They are one God in three distinct persons. Jesus, by his Incarnation, his life, his public ministry, and his Passion, Death, and Resurrection, fully and faithfully reveals all - everything - that God his Father, wishes him to reveal.
[00:10:22] Pope Saint John Paul II wrote that “the whole of Christ's life was a continual teaching […] and the fulfillment of Revelation.” Jesus’ words reveal to us the relationship he has with his Father and reveal that he and the Father will bestow the gift of the Holy Spirit. We'll get to that next.
[00:10:53] The Catechism of the Catholic Church assures us that while the fullness of Revelation is complete in in Jesus, it nevertheless remains for us, the Christian faithful, to gradually grasp its meaning… its significance. That's exactly what we're doing when we study Scripture. And remember what Jesus said in verse 15 (before the beginning of this passage): “If you love me, you will keep my commands” meaning that love and obedience go together… we cannot love God without being obedient, we cannot obey without love.
[00:11:47] Those two are inseparable. Then Jesus says…
[00:11:54] “These things I have spoken to you, while I am still with you.”
There's that reminder again that the time will come when Jesus won't be with them.
“But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”
[00:12:20] Jesus, of course, is talking about Pentecost when the Holy Spirit will descend upon the Apostles in the Upper Room. Then he says the Holy Spirit, the one who will be their Counselor, will bring the disciples remembrance of all that Jesus said to them.
[00:12:42] What does that mean for us? Well, all we have to do is think of the number of times we hear a reference to that in the Scriptures. Instances when the disciples ‘remember’ or ‘recall’ something at a later date that Jesus had taught them earlier.
[00:13:03] Or times where they come to understand the meaning of Jesus' words at a later date. That is the work of the Holy Spirit, that's what Jesus is assuring his disciples will happen. And the Holy Spirit is always there for us, too. The Holy Spirit is always helping us every day, certainly, and especially when we study the words of Scripture. Jesus goes on…
[00:13:39] “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. [N]ot as the world gives do I give [it] to you.”
[00:13:48] This peace that Jesus promises - his peace - is the fruit of his relationship with his Heavenly Father… a supernatural peace based on the shared substance of Father and Son, on their oneness, and on the eternal, unending love that is shared between the Father and the Son. That love is expressed as the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is that continual exchange of love between the Father and the Son.
[00:14:35] So, of course, that is a peace, a quietness, a calmness, a serenity, a peace that the world simply cannot give because it doesn't exist in the world. It doesn't arise from the world… it comes only from God and Jesus is extending that intimacy to his disciples.
[00:15:08] He is inviting all of his disciples into that deep love… that deep, personal, intimate love. And that means us, too. We, too, are invited to share in that.
[00:15:29] “Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”
[00:15:35] Jesus there restates the words with which he began his Farewell Discourse. And if we go back to the beginning of chapter 14, we find out what gives us the strength to not be troubled or afraid.
[00:15:50] It's faith, pure and simple. It's faith! Jesus says: “you have faith in God, have faith also in me.” It is precisely that faith which makes us strong and enables us to do everything else as well.
[00:16:12] “You heard me say to you, ‘I go away, and I will come [back] to you.’”
[00:16:17] Jesus is restating something else from earlier in the Farewell Discourse. In verses 2-3, he says: “I go to prepare a place for you and I will come back and take you to myself so that where I am you also will be.” Jesus’ entry into heaven, his Ascension, opens up the gates of heaven for all people.
[00:16:50] And yes, Jesus will come back.
[00:16:53] Not only after his Resurrection when he appears to his disciples, not only at the end of our lives when we undergo individual judgment, not only at the Second Coming at the end of time (what is also called the Parousia), but throughout time - throughout the Age of the Church (the present age)… where he now comes to us in the words of Sacred Scripture, in the Sacraments of the Church, and through the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit.
[00:17:44] That is a tremendous promise.
[00:17:50] “If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I go to the Father; for the Father is greater than I.”
[00:17:59] Jesus is saying that the Father is greater than his own earthly human nature, which has not yet undergone his Passion and Death. But Jesus is also affirming that by his Resurrection and his Ascension, his humanity will be transformed and glorified for all eternity. He is at the right hand of His Father now and for all time, all beyond time.
[00:18:39] Time is a construct that God created… and when that is done away with, Jesus will still be at the Father's right hand.
[00:18:51] “And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place, you may believe.”
That's exactly the promise Jesus made earlier, isn't it? That will be one of those times that the Holy Spirit will help the Apostles to ‘recall’ or ‘remember’ Jesus’ words enabling them to understand - at that future time - the fullness of the truth he taught them when he was with them.
[00:19:24] They can't always understand what Jesus teaches them when he teaches it to them. Sometimes they have to wait for a new experience to be able to understand what his words meant.
[00:19:40] His Death, his Passion and Death, being a big part of that… the Resurrection being another part… his Ascension being yet another part… the descent of the Holy Spirit… these events happen in order.
[00:19:55] But the disciples are completely unable to understand them and their import until they actually happen. So, that's what the Holy Spirit is helping them to do, to make those connections. Yes, Jesus told you about this before it happened… now remember.
[00:20:18] Yes, Jesus told you about this before it happened… now I understand what it means. Yes, Jesus told you about this before it happened… now understand what your responsibility is.
[00:20:36] The Holy Spirit does the same thing for us.
[00:20:41] As we grow in our knowledge of God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit… as we grow in our knowledge and love of God… we are better able to understand where we are and, therefore, better prepared to take the next step.
[00:21:07] Once we take the next step, then we spend time understanding what that step is. Then we make the next step, and so on, and so on, and so on. And the Holy Spirit is always there guiding us through it.
[00:21:30] That takes us to our First Reading, which is again from Acts 15: 1-2, 22-29.
[00:21:42] “[S]ome men came down from Judea and were teaching the brethren, ‘Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.’ And when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up down to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question. The apostles and the elders, with the whole church, decided to choose [representatives] and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent Judas called Barsab’bas, and Silas, leaders among the brethren, with the following letter:
The brethren, both the apostles and the elders, to the brethren who are the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cili’cia: greetings. Since we have heard that some persons from us have troubled you with [their teachings], unsettling your minds, although we gave them no [such] instructions, it has seemed good to us to choose men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men who have risked their lives for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same [message] by word of mouth:
[It is the decision of] the Holy Spirit and [of] us to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: that you abstain from [meat that] has been sacrificed to idols, from blood, from [meat of] strangled animals, and from unchastity. If you keep yourselves free of these, you will do well. Farewell.”
[00:23:51] If you paid attention - or when I read through - the citation before I began the Reading, you would have caught the fact that we missed several verses here… we miss verses 3 – 21, to be specific.
[00:24:07] Those verses - that are omitted from this passage in the Lectionary - describe the Council of Jerusalem, which took place around 48 - 50 AD.
[00:24:22] As the good news of Jesus continued to spread geographically, thanks primarily to Paul and his companions, more and more Christian converts were of Gentile origin rather than Jewish. That gave rise to questions regarding the necessity of observing Jewish laws by those Christians who were of Gentile origin.
[00:24:53] The first two verses of this week's passage capture a bit of that controversy that arose as a result of that difference… the Gentile versus Jewish origin.
[00:25:08] We don't hear the deliberations that took place during the Council meeting, but we do hear the outcome - which is the entirety of the letter issued by the Council of Jerusalem.
[00:25:21] This all happens at about the same time as Paul's Second Missionary Journey. We've heard lots about Paul's First Missionary Journey… we've been hearing about that for weeks. But this overlaps a bit with Paul's Second Missionary Journey, which basically took place between 49 and 52 AD.
[00:25:44] So, let's recap the controversy and the decision of the Council…
[00:25:53] “[S]ome men came down from Judea and were teaching the brethren, ‘Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.’”
[00:26:04] Strict adherence to the Mosaic Law is at the heart of the controversy and these specific teachers are saying that anyone who doesn't observe the Mosaic laws will not go to heaven. And one of the hallmarks of the Mosaic Law was circumcision.
[00:26:23] “And when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them,”
That had to be a tremendous understatement, right?
[00:26:33] Think huge argument, not small, not small dissension and debate.
“Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question.”
Meaning that this issue had to be resolved at a higher level in the nascent Church and it had to be resolved once and for all.
[00:27:03] So, the Council of Jerusalem took place. And remember, geographically, whether people were north, south, east or west, they always went up to Jerusalem because Jerusalem - the city of Jerusalem - was on top of Mount Zion so they went up to Jerusalem.
[00:27:26] The Council of Jerusalem established a paradigm, if you will, for future ecclesial decision making. First, issues are given a full hearing and all sides are given the opportunity to present their own logical arguments - to support their point of view.
[00:27:52] Then sufficient discussion is allowed for the Council members to understand how the specific issues impact the faithful, while also allowing sufficient time to consult the Scriptural teachings of Jesus, and consider any long-standing Traditions.
By traditions - you've heard me talk about this before - but there's capital “T” Tradition and lowercase “t” tradition. I'm talking about capital “T” traditions, things that have been passed down through the centuries, things that are inherent to the faith and cannot be changed. I'm not talking about whether you have ham or turkey at Thanksgiving dinner.
[00:28:45] I'm talking about how the Mass is proclaimed, what's in Sacred Scripture… those are the kinds of Traditions (capital “T” Traditions) that I'm talking about.
[00:28:58] All of that led, finally, to a spiritually sound and practical decision issued by the Council that resulted in practical, implementable policy. That is, of course, the ideal.
[00:29:18] Humans are involved, so not all of that flows as smoothly as it always should.
[00:29:27] Discussions aren't always peaceful or respectful. People don't always think about every aspect of a situation. Nevertheless, that is the ideal for a Council.
[00:29:44] “The apostles and the elders, with the whole church, decided to choose [representatives] and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas.”
[00:29:54] Meaning that is how the decision of the Council will be disseminated.
[00:30:01] “They sent Judas called Barsab’bas, and Silas, leaders among the brethren, with the following letter:”
[00:30:11] And remember, we hear the full text of the letter… this is sort of an introduction, but we will hear the full text of the Council's decision.
[00:30:22] “The brethren, both the apostles and the elders, to the brethren who are the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cili’cia: greetings. Since we have heard that some persons from us”
[00:30:37] The letter from the council is referring there to the men that went down from Judea and were teaching… we heard that at the beginning of this passage, right? They went down from Judea and were teaching.
[00:30:52] “[they] have troubled you with [their teachings], unsettling your minds, although we gave them no [such] instructions,”
[00:31:01] That is ‘Council speak’ for - they don't approve. They are already signaling their disapproval of those teachings and their dissatisfaction with the fact that they took place at all.
[00:31:19] “it has seemed good to us to choose men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men who have risked their lives for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
[00:31:33] That may have been stretching the truth just a bit. The more you read Acts, there's no doubt that Barnabas was absolutely beloved by the leaders of the Church in Jerusalem - we learned that earlier in Acts. But let's face it, Paul could be a bit of a thorn in everyone's side. He was gruff, stern, rigid, and relentless.
[00:32:03] So saying that Paul was beloved by the leaders of the Church in Jerusalem may have been stretching the truth just a bit. But no one would argue… no one would argue that Paul and Barnabas hadn't risked life and limb to preach the good news of Jesus.
[00:32:26] “We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same [message] by word of mouth:”
So, the decision of the Council is being delivered both in a written record and by oral proclamation. That accomplishes two things… first, having representatives from Jerusalem deliver the Council's decision in person eliminates any doubt about the authenticity of the written proclamation - that serves as a confirmation to say: Nope… that serves as a confirmation that this wasn't just made up… it wasn't put together by Paul and Barnabas on their own. This is the actual decision that's coming to you from the Council of Jerusalem.
[00:33:19] Second, that allows Judas and Silas to return to Jerusalem, which also frees up Paul and Barnabas to continue that Second Missionary Journey, which, as I mentioned, was already underway when this controversy arose. Remember I said the Council of Jerusalem and Paul's Second Missionary Journey sort of overlapped a bit.
[00:33:48] Then we finally hear the content of the letter… what decision the Council of Jerusalem made.
[00:34:00] “[It is the decision] of the Holy Spirit and [of] us”
[00:34:05] Meaning that this decision was arrived at carefully and prayerfully. It was not just done by one person's opinion or another. All sides of the situation, as I said earlier, were considered, Scripture was considered, Tradition was considered… everything was brought to bear on this decision.
[00:34:33] And then after much prayer and consideration, the decision was made that the mission to the Gentiles is God's will and should be fully supported - that was their decision.
[00:34:48] Then, how that's to be brought about is further spelled out…
“to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things:”
[00:35:01] When the decree of the Council says “no greater burden” they mean that no additional constraints will be placed upon Gentile converts to Christianity above what were already considered to be the legal restrictions that were in place for resident aliens in Israel.
[00:35:27] That's where this decision comes from… that's what it's based upon. And what are those restrictions? Well, we hear them next…
[00:35:37] “that you abstain from [meat that] has been sacrificed to idols, from blood, from [meat of] strangled animals, and from unchastity.”
[00:35:53] This part of the Council's decision is what is called a pesher - it is an application of Scripture to current events. That actually dates back to the time of Moses and we read that type of decision, or legal adaptation if you will, in Leviticus 17 and 18.
[00:36:23] This decision issued by the council only contains four items - there are four items in this pesher: (1) abstain from meat sacrificed to idols. So, by idols what the Council means is false gods. Don't eat meat that was initially sacrificed to false gods.
[00:36:52] We may not believe in false gods, we do not believe in false gods, but other people do. When non-believers see Christians consuming meat that has been sacrificed to idols, they think we are okay with that… they think we accept the false gods. So, that causes scandal… just don't do it. Simple enough.
[00:37:21] (2) abstain from blood. The Council is saying that contact with blood still makes a person ritually unclean and should be avoided.
[00:37:34] That is a long-held tradition in Judaism. So, avoid blood. That way, again, you're not going to bring scandal on anyone else.
[00:37:49] (3) abstain from the meat of strangled animals. Again, it's part of Jewish law. Don't eat meat from animals that died by strangling and…
(4) refrain from unchastity. That's a really, really broad statement. So, what does the Council mean?
[00:38:20] To understand that, we have to go back and look more closely at Jewish law in Leviticus. But basically, what the Council is saying is abstain from any sort of immoral behavior… so, adultery, incest, rape, or unlawful marriage.
[00:38:45] While the word unchastity may seem broad and overreaching - when you boil it down to its heart - what the Council is saying is: stay within the bounds of what is considered to be appropriate, moral behavior in any community.
[00:39:08] And I talked about this back when we talked about Corinthians. If Christians are unable - if new converts to Christianity are unable - to make a decision when the problem presented before them is clear cut and the decision is easy to reach, then how can they possibly be able to make a decision when the situation is more in a gray area… where it's harder to see what's truly right versus what's truly wrong?
[00:39:54] Basically, what the Council is saying here is that Gentile converts to Christianity are having the same restrictions placed upon them as resident aliens would who lived within Israel.
[00:40:13] And truth be told, this is something we tend to lose sight of as well. But truth be told, the basis of that decision (those four items) every single one of those four items was associated with pagan temple feasts.
[00:40:32] So there's a really wholesome and trustworthy basis upon which the Council has based its decision. When we indulge in behavior that runs thoroughly counter to our values as Christians, then everything we say and everything we do becomes suspect.
[00:41:01] It's hard for someone to believe us when we say: love your enemy, pray for those who persecute you… and we don't do it. Why should anyone believe us?
[00:41:16] We have to be authentic disciples… we have to do what we know to be right… and we have to do it the way Jesus would.
[00:41:27] Jesus said: “people will know you are my disciples if you love one another” and that we should “love as he loved us.” At the heart, that is what is most crucial.
[00:41:45] The Council's letter concludes…
“If you keep yourself free of these, you will do well. Farewell.”
[00:41:54] That closing phrase reminds us of our Gospel for this week, doesn't it? Essentially, it means that if the Gentile converts adhere to the Council's decision by refraining from those four listed behaviors, they are obeying God's will, since that's where the decision originated.
[00:42:16] And by obeying God's will, they demonstrate their love for God. They are cultivating that attitude of obedience that is such an integral part of the Christian life. They are promising obedience to God's will out of love. That's what we are also called to do… be obedient to God's will - out of love.
[00:42:49] And we are strengthened to be obedient by the love God gives to us. That seems like a relatively simple investment in love that doesn't hurt us at all but brings immeasurable rewards.
[00:43:16] Our Responsorial Psalm this week is Psalm 67, and the refrain is:
“O God, let all the peoples praise you.”
And here are the verses:
[00:43:28] “May God be gracious to us and bless us; and make his face shine upon us. So may your way be known upon the earth, your saving power among all nations.”
“Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon the earth.”
“Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you! God has blessed us; let all the ends of the earth fear him!”
[00:44:03] That Psalm is a Communal Prayer of Thanksgiving, specifically a prayer asking for God's blessing and a request that his blessing be known throughout out the world.
[00:44:20] So it's clear why Psalm 67 was chosen for this week. The verses echo Genesis 12, when God promises that all the families of the earth will find blessing, but it also echoes the Gospel, right? Because if we love God, we will keep his commands and live in his peace.
[00:44:40] And that last line – “let all the ends of the earth fear him” - that is not fear as in cringing away in terror, that is fear as in we are in absolute wondering awe at the might and majesty of God.
[00:45:06] That takes us to our Second Reading, which is from Revelation 21: 10-14, 22-23.
“[I]n the Spirit [the angel] carried me away to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. [I]ts radiance [was] like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed. [O]n the east [were] three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. [T]he wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them [were inscribed] the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. [T]he city has no need of sun or moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb.”
[00:46:40] In this passage from Revelation, John continues to describe his final vision which, of course, is of the new and eternal Jerusalem.
[00:46:53] This will be our last passage from Revelation for this Easter season although the season itself is not yet over. So, let me explain that every diocese or archdiocese in the United States (of which there are almost 200) has the authority to either observe the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord on its traditionally assigned date of the 40th day of Easter, or transfer it to the following Sunday.
[00:47:26] Out of all those territorial divisions, only five archdioceses observe Ascension on the 40th day of Easter, which is Thursday of the Sixth week of Easter - and this year that falls on May 29th.
[00:47:43] The remaining dioceses and archdioceses in the US transfer the Solemnity of the Ascension to the Seventh Sunday of Easter. My home diocese does transfer Ascension to that Sunday. So, next week I will cover the Readings for the Solemnity of the Ascension rather than the readings assigned for the Seventh Sunday of Easter. I wanted to explain that now, but I will remind you again at the end of this episode.
If you remember back to last week, I said the Book of Revelation belongs in the genre of apocalyptic literature, whose primary purpose is to provide encouragement and hope to people who are experiencing persecution. So, let's see what images John has for us in this passage…
[00:48:37] “[I]n the Spirit [the angel] carried me away”
[00:48:41] That's John's way of saying that these visions were both received and understood through the power of the Holy Spirit. So where did the angel take him?
“to a great, high mountain,”
[00:48:55] We know this high mountain is Mount Zion because John has already told us that his vision is of Jerusalem. “The angel showed me” - we know that this high mountain is Mount Zion because John will now tell us that his vision is of Jerusalem.
[00:49:16] [the angel] showed me the holy city of Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God.”
[00:49:26] That is a very flowery and poetic way of saying that the new and eternal Jerusalem shines with the splendor of God himself.
[00:49:39] “[I]ts radiance [was] like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.”
Those words should put us in mind of a beautiful stained-glass window. That's what they're intended to evoke in our minds… the color, the brightness, the beauty. That's the intent.
[00:50:07] “It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the Sons of Israel were inscribed. [O]n the east [were] three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates.”
[00:50:33] That description will hopefully remind us of the description of Solomon's Temple in 1 Kings or the prophet Ezekiel's vision of the Temple that's recorded in chapters 40 - 48 of Ezekiel.
[00:50:51] “[T]he wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them [were inscribed] the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.”
[00:51:04] That's where the description differs, right? Those others are in the Old Testament: 1 Kings, Ezekiel… that's Old Testament.
[00:51:16] But this is undoubtedly New Covenant - New Testament - theology.
[00:51:22] The inclusion, however, of both the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve apostles indicates that the heavenly Jerusalem will be the dwelling place - is intended to be the dwelling place - of all the righteous from both the Old and the New Covenants.
[00:51:49] “I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.”
[00:51:57] The Temple in Jerusalem stood as a symbol of God's covenant with His Chosen People, the place where God's glory dwelt on the earth, the place where God's people could offer him right praise and where they could gain access to him.
[00:52:20] But this is not earth, this is a new creation. Therefore, there is no need for a temple building! God is present himself, therefore, there is no longer the need for a symbol to represent his presence.
[00:52:46] “[T]he city has no need of sun or moon to shine upon it,”
[00:52:51] Meaning that in this new creation, the new and eternal Jerusalem, there is no need for artificial light.
[00:53:00] “for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb.”
[00:53:07] The light of God illumines everything, shining through the Lamb. Think of the Transfiguration when Jesus became blindingly white - that's the type of glory that John is describing… that is the divine glory of God the Father shining through the Lamb.
[00:53:41] Every part of this new Jerusalem is a place of right praise where there is no separation from God, no veils or partitions to restrict our access to him.
[00:54:04] It is a place where all our praise, all our worship, all our homage is ordered directly toward God and the Lamb… God the Father and Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit, which proceeds from the love of the Father and the Son. And that love, remember, fills everything!
[00:54:35] All of the entire city - of the new and eternal Jerusalem - all of the hearts of everyone that have been resurrected to join in that cosmic worship.
[00:54:51] And with that love - even in this imperfect world among extraordinarily imperfect and sinful people (as we all are) - we are prepared to do anything!
[00:55:12] We can be strong for ourselves and for others, we can be at peace with anyone, we can love everyone, and we can keep every promise we make - the easy ones and the ones that aren't so easy.
[00:55:46] We are given the ability to do that because we are filled with God's love - with God's peace.
[00:56:01] Jesus has already done the hard work - that took place on Good Friday - we get to enjoy the rewards of that act of great loving sacrifice and obedience… we get to enjoy that forever.
[00:56:30] Remember, next week we will cover the solemnity of the Ascension rather than the Seventh Sunday of Easter.
[00:56:38] If you would like to reach out to me with questions or comments, send me an email at
[email protected]
Thank you for spending this time with me and until next we meet, may God shower his blessings upon you like a soft and gentle rain and may he hold you, safe and secure, in the palm of his hand.
From His Word to Our Hearts is produced by SFS Audio Solutions.
The content of the show was assembled by me, Sally Moriarty-Flask.
Our music was composed by Jimmy Flask and is used with permission of the composer. All rights reserved.
Information regarding references used in preparing the exegesis of this podcast is available upon request.
[00:57:26] Thank you for listening and God Bless.
