Saturday in the 34th Week of Ordinary Time, November 28, 2020

Revelation 22:1-7

John said: An angel showed me the river of life-giving water, sparkling like crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the street.  On either side of the river grew the tree of life that produces fruit twelve times a year, once each month; the leaves of the trees serve as medicine for the nations. Nothing accursed will be found anymore. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will look upon his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. Night will be no more, nor will they need light from lamp or sun, for the Lord God shall give them light, and they shall reign forever and ever.  And he said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true, and the Lord, the God of prophetic spirits, sent his angel to show his servants what must happen soon.” “Behold, I am coming soon.” Blessed is the one who keeps the prophetic message of this book.

With this reading from the Book of Revelation, we pass into the season of Advent and so there will be no more of it.  For all practical purposes, though, the book is completed at this point as only a few more verses remain, and these can be readily understood.  In this reading we are deep into the seventh vision which St. John received.  It is one of the most serene parts of the whole Bible, perhaps excepting the wisdom books, and it fills us with hope.  The vision of heaven and of the Church Victorious presented here sustained the martyrs in their trials and missionaries in their work.  

“An angel showed me the river of life-giving water, sparkling like crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the street.”  The Fathers see this river as the grace that flows to the blessed from God.  John speaks of “the throne” of God and of the Lamb, not “thrones”: the unity of the Persons of the Holy Trinity is signified by the single throne.  Some of the Fathers particularly see this river of “life-giving water” as the font of baptism from which all holy water derives its holiness.  “On either side of the river grew the tree of life.”  The reference here is to the tree of life in the Garden of Eden from which Adam and Eve did not eat and which was guarded by an angel with a fiery sword.  This is in fact the Cross, and also the Lord Jesus himself under the sign of a fruit-bearing tree.  “That produces fruit twelve times a year, once each month.”  That is to say, continually and always.  The Venerable Bede says of this tree and its fruit: “It can also be simply understood as the Cross of Christ bearing fruit through the teaching of the twelve Apostles”, and subsequently through their successors.  St. Albert the Great uses the twelve “courses” of fruits throughout the year to teach of the twelve fruits of eternal life offered to the elect: soundness without corruption; plentiful energy without failing; rest without weariness; knowledge without ignorance; joy without sadness; security without fear; peace without disturbance; freedom without servitude; joy in the justice of God in the condemnation of the wicked; praise without ceasing; joy concerning the multitude of the saints; and delight in the vision of God.

“The leaves of the trees serve as medicine for the nations.”  As well as producing fruit, trees bring forth leaves.  These “leaves” are the commandments and teachings of the Lord for the healing of the nations.  Nations seek to protect and heal themselves with large armies and expensive social programs, but ultimately nothing helps unless the citizens of the nations of the world follow the teachings handed over to them by God himself, and are zealous for his glory.  

“Nothing accursed will be found.” anymore.  The gifts given to the human race at the beginning became “curses” with the fall of humanity in the original sin.  Thus, the blessing of sharing in God’s care for the garden of the world became “cursed”.  As God said to Adam, “Cursed is the earth in your work: with labor and toil shall you eat thereof all the days of your life. Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to you, and you shall eat the herbs of the earth.  In the sweat of your face shall you eat bread till you return to the earth out of which you were taken: for dust you are, and into dust you shall return” (Genesis 3, 17-19).  Now, by the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of the Son of God, all is restored and even glorified.  The blessed attain the life with God that was meant for us from the beginning. 

“The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him.”  The blessed will be completely free to worship God with all their hearts and souls, resulting in eternal happiness.  “They will look upon his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.”  They will see him as he is.  As St. John says in another place, “We know that when he shall appear we shall be like to him: because we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3, 2).  His name on their “foreheads” refers to their belonging to him through their baptism.  “Night will be no more, nor will they need light from lamp or sun, for the Lord God shall give them light.”  There is only eternal day in heaven.  Another way to think of this is that heaven is a realm utterly different from the physical world with its stars and planets.  “Night” here can also be understood as “ignorance”:  all secrets will be revealed, all knowledge freed up.  The blessed in heaven will at last understand the workings of Divine Providence in their lives and in human history.  This seems validated by the words that follow, “The Lord God shall give them light.”  “And they shall reign forever and ever.”  The Greek text says, “unto the ages of ages”, which we understand as meaning “time unending” or “forever”.  The duplication is a Hebrew way of emphasizing the greatness or lengthiness of a thing.  We use this device in English in such phrases as “your show of shows” (the name of an old radio program) or “the day of days”.    

“These words are trustworthy and true.”  John insisted in his Gospel, his letters, and here in the record of his visions that that which was revealed to him, and his own witness of these revealed things, “is trustworthy and true” (cf. John 22, 24 and 1 John 1, 1).  As a side note, the very coherence and consistency of these dense and complex visions within themselves and taken together demonstrates that they are “trustworthy and true”, that is, that these are the things that were experienced, and they are written down in a reliable way.  “To show his servants what must happen soon.”  Not quickly, but “soon”.  But as St. Peter writes, “But of this one thing be not ignorant, my beloved, that one day with the Lord is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (2 Peter 3, 8).

“Blessed is the one who keeps the prophetic message of this book.”  What is the message of this book?  For those without faith, there is no message, no meaning.  For those who have it, the prophetic message is clear: Hold out to the end, cleave to Jesus, persevere under trial, for the wicked, your oppressors and persecutors, will be destroyed and you will be rewarded for your faith.  That is is the message of this book.