Feast of Saint Bartholomew, Apostle

Lectionary: 629

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.

Today's readings from Revelation and the Gospel of John celebrate an apostle.Today is the feast of the least known Apostle Bartholomew. (The statue depicted on the right describes his ghastly death by flaying.) 

Our first reading from the twenty-first chapter of Revelation describes the New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven, and particularly its walls. No ancient city of any size or importance would not have a wall for protection against foreign armies. At the approach of an enemy a city could amass its resources, gather its people inside the walls, maintain a stout defense from their heights, and outwait the enemy. Armies often "melted away" as they marched from place to place, drinking the local water and dying of unfamiliar germs. 

God's Holy City would be no exception except that its walls don't strike me as very strong. They were not made of iron or steel, the strongest materials available at that time. Rather, the walls and gates are built of beautiful stones, precious and semiprecious. 

The foundations of the city wall were decorated with every precious stone; the first course of stones was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh hyacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made from a single pearl...

Perhaps they are beautiful rather than powerful since the Bible speaks of God's omnipotence mostly in passing, but is far more interested in God's sublimely beautiful mercy and justice.  A thing of beauty is a joy forever, as the poet John Keats said. And that eternal quality needs no strong defense. It is imperishable. 

As we live and practice our faith in these quarrelsome times, we do well to fix our gaze on Jesus and his beauty. Fearmongers will try to torment us with their worries and they will urge us to amass more power to defend against possible incursions. Certainly we should take ordinary steps to relieve our suffering planet and its migrating peoples from climate change. Extreme heat and flooding will force millions, perhaps billions, of people to abandon the tropics. We should prepare to welcome them. 

And we'll be especially glad to share the beauty of our faith, remembering that many of them already perceive the Father's beauty in Jesus and his Holy Spirit.