Feast of Saint Bartholomew, Apostle
(Revelation 21:9b-14; John 1:45-51)
Isn’t it the case that when one of the readings at mass is
from the Book of Revelation, both preacher and the faithful tend to ignore it? Seeming impossible to make sense of, we pass
it by. It is our great loss. As Homer’s Odyssey conveys worldly
wisdom, Revelation reveals God’s eternal plan.
Today’s reading from Revelation envisions the Church at the
end of time. Christ, the victorious
lamb, has just won victory for her over evil.
Now, cleansed of all perversions, she appears radiant like a bride at her
wedding. In the reading she is a transformed
city with twelve gates. Each gate stands
for a tribe of Israel that was dispersed to the four corners of the earth. Now the people return as the reinvigorated citizens
of God’s holy city, the new Jerusalem.
St. Bartholomew would have preached the content of the Book
of Revelation even though he was martyred before its composition. He is the same Nathaniel who appears in today’s
gospel. Jesus tells him that he will
have a vision of “the Son of Man” in glory.
The Son of Man, of course, is Christ himself. His glory is the transformed People
of God; that is, us.
