Speak Lord: Refuge and source of life

In the spirit, the angel took me to the top of an enormous high mountain and showed me Jerusalem, the holy city, coming down from God out of heaven. It had all the radiant glory of God and glittered like some precious jewel of crystal-clear diamond. The walls of it were of a great height, and had twelve gates; at each of the twelve gates there was an angel, and over the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel; on the east there were three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. The city walls stood on twelve foundation stones, each one of which bore the name of one of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

I saw that there was no temple in the city since the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb were themselves the temple, and the city did not need the sun or the moon for light, since it was lit by the radiant glory of God and the Lamb was a lighted torch for it.

2nd reading for the 6th Sunday of Easter
Apocalypse 21:10-14,22-23

All in the heavenly Jerusalem speaks of the saving love of God – speaks of the people first chosen as his people; speaks of the apostles who help the Lord extend access to the covenant of his love to the people; speaks of life, light and love.

And all this for us, and all this good news for us to share with others…

Stained glass. Couvent des Jacobins, Toulouse. Photograph (c) 2018, Allen Morris.