Reading 1 Rev 21:9b-14
“Come here.
I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”
He took me in spirit to a great, high mountain
and showed me the holy city Jerusalem
coming down out of heaven from God.
It gleamed with the splendor of God.
Its radiance was like that of a precious stone,
like jasper, clear as crystal.
It had a massive, high wall,
with twelve gates where twelve angels were stationed
and on which names were inscribed,
the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel.
There were three gates facing east,
three north, three south, and three west.
The wall of the city had twelve courses of stones as its foundation,
on which were inscribed the twelve names
of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 145:10-11, 12-13, 17-18
Let all your works give you thanks, O LORD,
and let your faithful ones bless you.
Let them discourse of the glory of your Kingdom
and speak of your might.
R. Your friends make known, O Lord, the glorious splendor of your Kingdom.
Making known to men your might
and the glorious splendor of your Kingdom.
Your Kingdom is a Kingdom for all ages,
and your dominion endures through all generations.
R. Your friends make known, O Lord, the glorious splendor of your Kingdom.
The LORD is just in all his ways
and holy in all his works.
The LORD is near to all who call upon him,
to all who call upon him in truth.
R. Your friends make known, O Lord, the glorious splendor of your Kingdom.
Alleluia Jn 1:49b
Rabbi, you are the Son of God;
you are the King of Israel.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel Jn 1:45-51
Philip found Nathanael and told him,“We have found the one about whom Moses wrote in the law,
and also the prophets, Jesus son of Joseph, from Nazareth.”
But Nathanael said to him,
“Can anything good come from Nazareth?”
Philip said to him, “Come and see.”
Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him,
“Here is a true child of Israel.
There is no duplicity in him.”
Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?”
Jesus answered and said to him,
“Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.”
Nathanael answered him,
“Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.”
Jesus answered and said to him,
“Do you believe
because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree?
You will see greater things than this.”
And he said to him, “Amen, amen, I say to you,
you will see heaven opened and the angels of God
ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
WILL CHRIST'S CHURCH PLEASE STAND UP?
"Come, I will show you the woman who is the bride of the Lamb." –Revelation 21:9
Do you belong to the Church that Jesus founded? If you do, you belong to the body of Christ (e.g. Eph 1:22-23) and the bride of Christ. If you belong to Christ's Church, you belong to the Church which holds the keys to the kingdom of heaven (Mt 16:19) and is the pillar and bulwark of truth (1 Tm 3:15).
How do you know if you belong to Christ's Church? Some people think that the Church with the best and holiest people must be Christ's original Church. However, Christ's Church has always been a mixture of wheat and weeds (Mt 13:24ff). The first apostles were far from holy. Others think Christ's Church is the one whose pastor teaches the best. This means they find the services and sermons to be helpful, inspiring, and even orthodox. So does this mean that a church ceases to be the Church of Christ if the sermons change or our evaluation of them changes? Moreover, who is the judge of what is orthodox? Don't we need the Church of Christ to discern what is orthodox rather than having people who claim to be orthodox trying to discern the authenticity of the Church?
We can know which church is the Church of Christ because the Church of Christ is founded on the apostles (Rv 21:14; Eph 2:20). Our bishops are successors of the apostles because they have been ordained by successors of the apostles. Apostolicity is the objective sign of the authenticity of the Church as the Church of Christ. Thus, we celebrate the feasts of the apostles and today's feast of St. Bartholomew, an apostle.
| PRAYER: | Father, may I love the Church as Jesus does (Eph 5:25). |
| PROMISE: | "You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel." –Jn 1:49 |
| PRAISE: | St. Bartholomew was introduced to Jesus by his friend Philip, who also became an apostle (Jn 1:45ff). |
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