＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊

Revelation 21:9b-14

Then one of the seven angels came to me,

One of those with the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues. And he said, “Come, I am going to show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” He took me up in a spiritual vision to a very high moun­tain and he showed me the holy city Jeru­salem, coming down out of heaven from God.

It shines with the glory of God, like a precious jewel with the color of crystal-clear jasper.  Its wall, large and high, has twelve gates; stationed at them are twelve angels. Over the gates are written the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel. 

Three gates face the east; three gates face the north; three gates face the south and three face the west. The city wall stands on twelve foundation stones on which are written the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

 

Ps 145:10-11, 12-13, 17-18

Your friends make known, O Lord, the glorious splendor of your kingdom.

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊

John 1:45-51

 Philip found Natha­nael and said to him, “We have found the one that Moses wrote about in the Law, and the prophets as well: he is Jesus, son of Joseph, from Nazareth.”  Nathanael replied, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”

Philip said to him, “Come and see.”   When Jesus saw Nathanael coming, he said of him, “Here comes an Israelite, a true one; there is nothing false in him.”  Nathanael asked him, “How do you know me?” And Jesus said to him, “Before Philip called you, you were under the fig tree and I saw you.”

 Nathanael answered, “Master, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”   But Jesus replied, “You believe because I said: ‘I saw you under the fig tree.’ But you will see greater things than that.  Truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”

 

Gospel Reflection：

Jesus finds in Nathanael the purity and honesty of the Jewish faith. There is enormous promise and potential in the relationship God forged with the Old Testament people, particularly the Israelites.

But, wants His relationship with His people not stuck in signs and sacred spaces like the one provided by the fig tree. God wants us to go deep into His person, mission, and the people we ignore or deem having a wrong religion.

Jesus wants Nathanael not just to be a true Israelite. Likewise, Jesus wants us not just to be a true Catholic or Muslim or Hindu. There is true and great good in every religion. But all of us, in diverse faith, can live together in our deep knowledge of God.

He fully reveals Himself in Jesus Christ, but He wants us to widen our welcoming embrace to all those who have to know Him yet.