24/04/2022

The acts of the apostles begin in the Temple. They meet everyday and many listen but are afraid to join them. The sick  are brought in the hope that being in the presence of the Apostles will bring them to health. 

John has witnessed most of the events of Jesus public life. He, faithfully following the commands of the dying Jesus, has cared for Mary as if she were his own mother and he has been tortured and exiled for his Faith. 

His vision begins with the command to record it all. What we read is the result of this command. It is very diffficult for us to know the meaning of all the otherworldly sights and symbols John does see; just as it is difficult to understand other Old Testament similarly prophetic experiences.

John's eye-witness account of Jesus appearances in their midst in the upper room is also beyond my understanding. This is not a vision, which could take place in the consciousness of the visionary and be unobserved by others. Jesus is a body; he is the same body that had been laid in the tomb transformed to another level of being. St Thomas touches and feels the wounds that had been received so painfully to bring the grace of salvation to us all. We do not need to see but we do need to believe. Jesus blesses us for Faith; he knows the limits of our understanding.

The resurrected Jesus, his life and death,  the Acts of the Apostles, the mystical visions of John, the Good News, all are from Father, Son and Holy Spirit with the loving purpose of enabling us to use our freedom to live lives pleasing to the Lord of All and to found his Church to administer his sacramental grace here on earth. 

Dear Lord let my soul be filled with love for you with all the sins driven out. Fill your priests with the holiness you breathed on your Apostles and let us the sheep feel confident in our pastors. May Mary and all the saints please help those in my family and in all the world who need curing and comfort..