The letters to the 7 churches, Revelation, chapters 2 and 3.
A baptismal catechesis
The letters to the churches reveal and announce the gifts that the Holy Spirit confers to the baptized. Every baptized person will be called
- Son of God, because he or her has entered into a filial relationship with God and a fraternal relationship with his/her neighbor.
- King, because he or her shares Christ’s victory over evil and death.
- Prophet, because, admitted to the Eucharist, he becomes a member of the body of Christ and a witness to God in the world, by the example of his own life.
- Priest, because he transmits God’s Spirit and is the light of the world.
- Risen, because the baptized person enters eternal life. He or she has left behind his/her old clothes and followed Christ, who has put on our humanity; he/she has humbled himself/herself by recognizing himself/herself as a sinner, and in serving his neighbor he/she reveals the glory of God.
- Temple of the Holy Spirit, for God’s forgiveness fills him/her with his love, and this love leads him/her into a filial relationship with God and a fraternal relationship with his neighbor, whom he/she welcomes into the Temple in God’s name, opening the door of his/her heart.
- Judge who sits on the throne, for the righteous offers forgiveness to his persecutors, but when they rage against him and do not repent, they exclude themselves from the Kingdom of heaven, from communion and love towards their brothers and sisters, they judge themselves.
Every baptized person receives the gifts of the Holy Spirit, depicted in the following images:
- The tree of life. By accepting life as a gift from God, the baptized person enters into a filial relationship with God.
- The crown of life. With the help of the Holy Spirit, hatred, vengeance and evil will not win his heart: the baptized person will abide in eternal life. A communion of love with God and neighbor, in which he/she entered through baptism.
- The hidden manna and the white pebble with the new name. The baptized person receives Christ as nourishment, becomes a member of Christ’s body, is called a Christian, Christ, and his Christian name will express his unique way of reflecting God’s glory and love in this world.
- The morning star. The baptized person is the light of the world, announcing the victory of Christ over evil, the victory of light over darkness. He receives and transmits the fire of God’s love and knowledge.
- White garments. The baptized person clothes himself/herself with the risen Christ. By stripping off his/her old clothes, recognizing himself/herself as a sinner and welcoming God’s forgiveness, he/she welcomes his fellow man, in whom he/she recognizes himself/herself as a member of the same body. Christ revealed the glory of God by offering his life for humanity. He clothed humanity and led it to the glory of God, manifested in love.
- The column of the temple. The baptized receives the gift of the Holy Spirit who dwells within him/her. He/she is incorporated into the body of Christ, who is the temple of God. He/she belongs to God, whose name will be engraved on him/her, to the Church, because the name of the New Jerusalem is engraved on him/her, and to Christ, whose name he receives, for he too is anointed by the Holy Spirit.
- Sitting on the throne. The baptized person, a member of Christ’s body, sits like Christ on a throne. He has defeated the enemy, which is evil. The persecuted righteous human being has not responded to offense with offense; evil has not won his heart. He thus becomes a judge, because those who persecute him/her exclude themselves from the fraternal communion that reigns in the city of God.
First gift (Rev 2:1 and 2:7): The tree of life, the filial relationship.
He who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lamp stands will give the winner to taste of the tree of life in God’s Paradise.
Thus, the first gift given to the one who recognizes his faults is to once again have access to Paradise. There is the tree of life and the fountain of life that waters the universe (Genesis 2:9-10). The first letter to the Church of Ephesus, in fact, reproaches the faithful for having abandoned their first love. This first love is the one in which human beings live out their filial relationship with God in full trust, and this is what being in Paradise is all about: welcoming life as a gift and welcoming the gift of divine life in everyone, then the source of life gushes forth in us, gushing forth into eternal life, when we welcome in our neighbor an infinite source of love and joy, an opportunity for happiness and not a rival.
So John says to all of us, addressing the Ephesians: “Remember where you fell from, convert, return to your first deeds. Otherwise I will come to you and remove your lamp stand from its place” (Rev 2:5): every creature is made to shine and show God’s love to the world; each one is the light of the world, Jesus also reminds us (Matthew 5:14). So whoever approaches baptism, welcoming life as a gift from God, welcomes a multitude of brothers and sisters. In so doing, he or she approaches the tree of life, the source of all joy. In this way, he or she will be cleansed of all guilt and restored to his/her original splendor, recovering his/her place in the lamp stand. So, to those who take this step of recognizing himself/herself as sinner, returning to the love of God and to the brothers and sisters, the tree of life is promised, the tree of Paradise. But this tree of life is Christ himself, who on the dead tree of the cross gives us his own life. In so doing, the tree of death, of crucifixion, becomes the place of victory over evil, the place where God’s infinite love, put to the test by mankind, is revealed. He who did not respond to evil with evil, to offense with offense, achieves the victory of love by forgiving those who have offended him. In this way, he reveals the splendor of the Father’s love, he reveals his glory and, through his forgiveness, he opens us up once again to a trusting relationship. And so, through baptism, we too have died and risen with Christ: immersed under water, evil is killed within us, we die to sin. As we rise from the water, we are born to the new life of resurrection with Christ, sharing his victory over evil and death, we are born to the life of children of God. His light shines in us, and we are a reflection of his mercy in this world. We have access to the tree of life because life is offered to us by God, it is a gift, we cannot appropriate it for ourselves (see article on The tree of Life).
Before he was arrested, Jesus reminded us: “No one can take my life from me; I give it of myself” (John 10:18), so that the world may have life. It is from his pierced side on the cross that water and blood will flow, the water that carries Christ’s life poured out for the multitude, represented by the blood, the life that is received in the bath of baptism that purifies our faults and restores us to the fraternal life of the children of God. “Rivers of living water will flow from within him.” (John 7:38).
Second gift (Rev 2:8 and 2:10-11): The crown of life, victory over evil.
The One who is the First and the Last, the One who was dead and has come to life, gives the crown of life to the one who will be faithful unto death, and asserts that he cannot be touched by the second death.
Those who trust Christ through trials will share his victory over evil. Like Christ, Christians are exposed to trials and persecution. We must remain attached to him, trusting him, and we too will share in his victory over evil and death. The crown is the sign of this victory, the prize given to the winner. So, as it is said at the beginning of this second letter to the church of Smyrna, it is he who is the first and the last, he who was dead and has come to life, that is, he who has risen, who has conquered death, who gives this same privilege to the faithful believer; he shares his victory over death, represented by the crown of life. The winner cannot be touched by the second death, which separates us definitively from communion with God. Baptism offers a first resurrection to the creature who dies spiritually through sin, but once the body too has died, then the creature will have no means of repenting, of returning to God. We must do this while we can, while we are alive, before a second death, that of the body, reaches us (see article The thousand years: resurrected with Christ).
Overcoming death means not letting hatred, vengeance, jealousy and evil into our hearts, so that we are not separated from the vital, filial relationship that unites us to God, and with him we enter into eternal life, right now. Then, evil will not lead us to death, which is division, separation from communion with our human brothers and sisters.
Third gift (Rev 2:12 and 2:17): The hidden manna and the white pebble. Nourished by the body of Christ, the faithful becomes Christ, bearer of the word of God by the example of his life.
He who has the sharp two-edged sword gives the winner the hidden manna and a white pebble, and inscribes on the pebble a new name that no one knows except the one who receives it.
Every baptized person also receives the gift of prophecy, that is, bringing the word of God to the world through the testimony of his or her life. And so, the one whose mouth – that is, whose word – is a sharp two-edged sword also confers the power of his word on the baptized, putting it on his mouth. Thus, to the one who faithfully keeps faith in the death and resurrection of Christ and in the incarnation of the one who came down from heaven to save us, and who does not deny it, either in word or by bad example, this one feeds on the hidden manna and bears the name of Christian, i.e. the name of Christ signified by the white pebble. The baptized person is admitted to share a meal reserved for the initiated, the meal instituted at the Last Supper, during which Jesus reveals the hidden nature of the bread he is about to offer the apostles: “This bread is my body” (Matthew 26:27).
Thus, closely united to Christ, who is the Word of God made flesh, he too will be a living witness to this word by the example of his life. His unique way of reflecting God’s love in this world is expressed by the new name, the one that synthesizes his whole life, all the love he offered to his neighbor, thanks to which so many creatures felt loved by God, recognized in him a reflection of God’s love. This name cannot be expressed in our earthly language, it encloses within it all the times of our lives, and this will be known to us when we embrace the times in the vision of God, then we will know him as we are known, we will see him as he is. Then, in an instant all times will be present, and the reality of each will be expressed in a new modality, a new name that no one can conceive of here, whose mode of expression surpasses our present way of reasoning, subject to time, where words, letters are enunciated in time. Then he will be all in all.
First Letter to the Corinthians 13:12:
At present we see confusedly, as in a mirror; on that day we shall see face to face. At present my knowledge is partial; on that day I shall know perfectly, as I have been known.
First Letter to the Corinthians 15:28
And when all things are put under the power of the Son, then he himself will be put under the power of the Father, who will have subjected all things to him, and so God will be all in all.
First letter of Saint John 3, 2
Beloved, even now we are children of God, but what we will be has not yet been made manifest. We know that when it is manifested, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is.
Fourth gift (Rev 4:18 and 4:26-28): The morning star. The baptized person is the light of the world, announcing Christ’s victory over evil. He receives and transmits the fire of God’s love and knowledge.
The Son of God, whose eyes are like a flame of fire and whose feet are like precious bronze, gives the victor authority over the nations and the morning star.
He who has eyes like a flame of fire and feet like glowing bronze will also bestow this gift, this characteristic of his nature, on the baptized. Indeed, he will give him the gift of being a morning star. The knowledge of God, represented by the eyes, sets us ablaze like a fire, a fire of love. But this fire, for those who do not welcome it and want to seize it, can provoke a burn (see article on The fire that brings light or burns).
In this way, the baptized share Christ’s victory over evil. This is why those who receive this gift bear witness to God’s love with feet ablaze with the fire of his knowledge: they will be like the morning star, heralding the victory of day over darkness. Jesus is the first to rise, the first born from the dead (Colossians 1:18). So, at the Easter Vigil ceremony where baptisms are celebrated, first the fire is blessed, then the candle representing Christ and the Paschal Candle are lit, and after the baptism, the newly-baptized person is entrusted with a lighted candle from the Paschal Candle. During the same ceremony, the newly-baptized person also receives communion with the bread that is the sacrament of Christ’s body, which in Revelation is called the hidden manna. Indeed, Jesus says of himself that he is the bread that came down from heaven, like the manna that came down from heaven to feed the starving people in the desert. But he also explains that in him we do not receive perishable food, but the very word of God that becomes flesh in us when we eat the bread he gives his disciples at his meal, the Eucharistic bread. This bread is truly the bread that came down from heaven, for it contains the word of God, hidden within it, the word that becomes flesh and nourishes, enlightens and indwells us.
Fifth gift (Rev 3:1 and 3:5): The white garments. The baptized person puts on the risen Christ. He recognizes himself as a sinner and, through God’s forgiveness, enters into eternal life, into the glory of God revealed in love and service to his brothers and sisters.
He who has the 7 spirits of God and the 7 stars declares that the victor will wear white garments, that his name will never be erased from the book of life, and that he will proclaim his name before the Father and his angels.
Christ’s garment has always been interpreted by the Fathers as an image of the Church, the body of Christ. By the garment, by the action of putting on, is expressed the act by which the head that is Christ unites with the members of his body. Christ has voluntarily put on our humanity. As the apostle Paul puts it:
He who knew no sin, God identified with sin for us, so that in him we might become righteous in the very righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21).
And he also invites us to follow his example:
Have in you the dispositions which are in Christ Jesus: Christ Jesus, having the condition of God, did not jealously retain the rank which made him equal to God. Instead, he annihilated himself, taking on the condition of a servant, becoming like men. Recognized as a man by his appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, and the death of the cross. This is why God exalted him, endowing him with the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and in hell, and every tongue proclaim, “Jesus Christ is Lord” to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:5-11).
Jesus accepted to be confused with sinners, he made himself so much one of us that he accepted the risk of being confused with criminals. He meant that he would have risked his life for us by agreeing to go and be baptized by John the Baptist. In so doing, he placed himself in the ranks of those who would ask forgiveness for their sins, he who had no sin. But he who humbles himself will be lifted up, and at the moment of baptism the Holy Spirit descends upon him in the form of a dove, and the voice of the Father proclaims: “You are my beloved Son; in you I rejoice” (Luke 3:22). By going to be baptized, Jesus is already announcing his intention to take on our humanity, whatever the cost; he will plunge into our humanity to the point of death. He accepted the risk involved in coming into the midst of a lost humanity, which no longer recognizes the just, the innocent, which has lost its familiarity with God’s justice and goodness.
As the evangelist Saint John says:
The Word was the true Light, which enlightens every man by coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world came into being through him, but the world did not recognize him. He came to his own home, and his own people did not receive him. But to all those who received him, he gave the power to become children of God, who believe in his name. They were not born of blood, nor of a carnal will, nor of the will of man: they were born of God. And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory he has from his Father as the only Son, full of grace and truth. (John 1, 9-14)
So Christ took on our humanity, putting himself at its service, becoming a slave for us, so as to lead us with him to the glory of the Father, to contemplate the infinite love with which we are loved. he took on, clothed, sinful humanity, so as to transfigure it, to fill it with his love, to make it partaker of his love and his victory over evil and death.
In this way, the catechumen first recognizes that he too, like all men, is a sinner, that he too has a share in the responsibility for the division that reigns among men, and which distances them from God’s love. The catechumen, too, is part of this humanity; he is not above others, but humbles himself and asks forgiveness for his sins. Then, in order to be washed by the baptismal bath, he strips himself of his old clothes and makes himself available to welcome God’s forgiveness, which will renew in him the gift of his Spirit, reunite him with himself, and call him to share in the dignity of a child of God. Thanks to Christ’s mediation and forgiveness, the baptized share in his victory over evil. The baptized will also forgive as he or she has been forgiven; the baptized has taken on the glory of Christ, has entered into eternal life. With Christ risen to new life, his garments have become resplendent with the glory of God, white, whiter than snow and the brilliance of sunlight.
His spiritual food is the bread of Christ’s body, which illuminates him with the truth of his love, and which will also dwell within him. he has put on Christ: Christ, risen and resplendent with God’s infinite love. But in reality, the moment on this earth when Christ manifested the glory of the Father was in the humiliation and abasement of the cross, where he accepted to be confused with criminals and sinners. Jesus explains this, before his passion:
“The hour has come when the Son of Man must be glorified. Amen, amen, I say to you: if a grain of wheat falls into the earth and does not die, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. He who loves his life loses it; he who separates himself from it in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone wishes to serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall my servant be also. If anyone serves me, my Father will honor him. (John 12, 23-26 ©AELF)
The apostles on Mount Tabor also witnessed the glory of Christ as it will be revealed and ultimately appear to men in heaven: his garments were brighter than the sunlight (Matthew 1, 1-13). But this light is hidden from men who fail to recognize it in the loving face of the believer, in the one who stoops to serve and honor God in his brothers and sisters. So, to put on Christ means to clothe oneself in humility so as to share in his glory, means to serve and not to be served, to lower oneself and not to exalt oneself above others, but to recognize in all the same nature and dignity of a child of God. Then the baptized person will speak with authority, for his behavior will be in conformity with his teaching, his example and his word will be true. And so, at the celebration of baptism, having shed his or her old clothes and customs, the person who has plunged into the water with Christ has died with him to evil and sin, and with him has risen to new life. Animated by the spirit of Christ, the Spirit of God’s love that unites him to the Father in filial relationship, he is a new man, receives a new name and is clothed in a white tunic. The risen Christ gives him the dignity of priest, prophet and king. Indeed, before entering Jerusalem to offer up his life, Jesus led three apostles to the summit of Mount Tabor, and his garments became more resplendent than the light of the sun; with him also appeared Moses and Elijah. It was a vision of resurrection, the prophets Moses and Elijah, who had left this life centuries before, appearing still alive and conversing with Jesus in the light of resurrection (Matthew 17:1-13).
Sixth gift (Rev 3:7 and 3:12): Column of the Temple of God. The baptized person receives forgiveness for his or her sins through Christ, and this gift of God’s love, this par-gift, this renewed gift, makes him or her a new creature in whom the Holy Spirit dwells.
The Holy One, the True One, the One who holds the key of David, the One who opens – and no one will close -, the One who closes – and no one can open, declares: “I will make the conqueror a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will go out more, and I will engrave on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem which comes down from heaven from my God, and my new name. ”
The baptized person is a king, because he shares Christ’s victory over death; he is a prophet, because he lives by the word of God, which he brings to the world; and he is also a priest, because he brings God’s forgiveness to the world, transmitting his Spirit. The baptized are entrusted with the prayer of the Our Father, in which they ask us to sanctify the name of God, that is, to manifest God’s glory and love to the world, by doing his will, so that the kingdom of God may reign in the hearts of men through the love that unites them on earth as it does in heaven. To achieve this, the faithful ask to be nourished by the life of God, by the food that strengthens them spiritually, that strengthens love within them, that brings them the life of God. The bread that comes down from heaven becomes his daily bread. Next, the divine image in man is brought into full likeness with him. Man will also be a reflection of the divine characteristic and prerogative to forgive sins, spoken of at the beginning of the sixth letter, that possessed by “the one who holds the key of David, the one who opens – and no one will close -, the one who closes – and no one can open”. These words refer to God’s power to forgive human sin. Yet this power was entrusted by Jesus to Peter, and also to the apostles. By dispensing God’s forgiveness to men, they will build up the Church, sanctifying men; by the gift of the Spirit, they will make the baptized into temples of the Spirit. So Jesus said to Peter:
You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church; and the power of Death shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven (Matthew 16:18-19).
And Jesus also confided to the apostles:
Amen, I say to you: whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. (Matthew 18:18 ©AELF)
The apostles build up the Church by offering baptism and the forgiveness of sins, and in these sacred acts and sacraments, they transmit the gift of the Holy Spirit through the ministry entrusted to them by Christ. But each baptized person, in turn, is called by Jesus himself, in the Lord’s Prayer that Christ entrusts to him at baptism, to forgive those who have offended him. Now, the forgiveness offered by the baptized to those who have offended him is different from the forgiveness conferred by the successors of the apostles, the ministers of Christ’s priesthood. Indeed, it does not have the power to regenerate, recreate and introduce the creature into filial relationship with God, for this is achieved by the forgiveness that God himself offers to his creatures through the ministry of the priest. But every baptized person, by forgiving those who have offended him or her, becomes a witness to the Spirit of God who dwells within him or her, and spreads God’s Spirit in the world by becoming a reflection of his or her mercy. Through him, Jesus himself continues to love mankind, inviting them to receive this same forgiveness from God himself. Receiving forgiveness from our brothers and sisters enables us to see the face of God, and then to turn to him and call upon his forgiveness too. This is what the Lord’s Prayer, passed on to the newly baptized, invites us to do. Having recognized his love in the forgiveness received from our brothers and sisters, we call upon God’s own love: “forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us”. Welcoming the Spirit of Christ at baptism means that each baptized person becomes a reflection of his or her love in this world, and having received God’s forgiveness, makes God’s merciful attitude visible to the world, by granting forgiveness to his or her brothers and sisters. Forgiven, he will be able to forgive, and in forgiving, he will build up the Church, because he will enable others to open up to God’s forgiveness. He will give others access to the mystery of the Church and its ministers, successors of the apostles, who dispense God’s forgiveness. The baptized person also becomes a pillar of the temple, since he or she gives access to the Church, bears Christ’s name inscribed in him or her, and makes Christ visible to men and women who, once they have recognized his love, can call upon him to be forgiven by him, thanks to baptism and the sacrament of reconciliation.
There is no greater love than to offer one’s life for those we love, and he who can die forgiving his enemies as Christ did, establishes the kingdom of heaven on earth, and his forgiveness gives people access to the mystery of God. Encountering a gesture of mercy and forgiveness here on earth opens a door to heaven, allowing us to see the Spirit of God at work in people, inspiring them with a love that is a reflection of Christ’s own. This introduces people to the mystery of God, which is that we all live by the same spirit that gives life to the world. This spirit makes us a multitude of brothers, like members of the same body. Now, the temple where the stones bear each other’s weight is an image of the body, and Jesus says of his own body inhabited by the spirit of God: “Destroy this temple and I will rebuild it in three days” (John 2:19). And the apostle Paul assures us that through the gift of the Spirit received at baptism and offered to mankind by Christ on the cross, we have become temples of the Holy Spirit:
Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you (1 Corinthians 3:16)?
Don’t you know? Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have received from God (1 Corinthians 6:19).
And in this temple, those who offer forgiveness to their brothers and sisters will be firmly established as pillars, and will be the stones that form the holy city, welcoming people in the name of Christ, allowing them access through the testimony of their love. It’s a love that’s faithful to the end when it’s tested, i.e. capable of forgiving the offender 70 times 7 times over. Perhaps it will be after having tested the righteous 70 times that the wicked will be sure of the gratuitousness and extent of his love, and discover in it a reflection of God’s love.
The seventh gift (Rev 3:14 and 3:21): Sitting on the throne. As a member of Christ’s body, the baptized will be exposed to persecution like Christ. Like Christ, offering forgiveness to his enemies, he will also be an occasion of exclusion for those who reject his love. Those who rage against the righteous and do not accept his forgiveness condemn themselves. They cut themselves off from the fraternal bond, from the communion that reigns in the city of God.
He who is the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the principle of God’s creation declares: “The victor I will give to sit with me on my throne, as I myself, after my victory, sat with my Father on his throne.”
He who sits on the throne judges and governs by example, he defeated his enemies by forgiving them, so evil could not dominate his heart. It is evil that has been vanquished, evil that will be permanently extirpated from his heart. And the blood spilled by the unjustly condemned will be like the source of life refused by those who rage against him and do not accept his forgiveness.
The final liberation from evil. The one who has said Amen, all is fulfilled, the one who has lived love to the end exercises judgment on others, sits on the throne like Christ who sat on the throne of the Father. It is the righteous one who reveals the injustice of men, the one who is animated by the love of God unleashes evil against him and thereby reveals the true face of men who hide behind good appearances but take advantage of the weak and the poor and exert their power over them. But he who is lukewarm and easily compromises with those in power does not reveal the face of the Father, nor does he do His will. And, above all, he doesn’t enter into a filial and trusting relationship with God, he considers himself rich and doesn’t see where God wants to lead him: to grow in love. So he asks God for nothing, thinking that he lacks nothing that God could give him. He hasn’t experienced suffering, he hasn’t found himself oppressed, because he’s always put up with what wasn’t acceptable in God’s eyes. He doesn’t see that his behavior is shameful. So God can do nothing for him, like Jesus when he is not asked for miracles, and yet the letter to the Church of Laodicea reminds us that God does not abandon him; on the contrary, he stands at the door and knocks, waiting to be opened.
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him; and I will dine with him, and he with me (Rev 3:20).
Jesus knocks at the door of our hearts, waiting for us to accept his invitation, his forgiveness. He comes to our rescue when our hearts have gone astray, when we have lost the love that binds us to God and our neighbor. Those who let him in will be led into a profound communion with Jesus, he will be in him and Jesus will be in him, as in the image of the bride and groom in the Song of Songs, where the Bride represents the Church, humanity reconciled with God, surrendering to God in trust, putting its spirit back into him. The Book of Revelation also ends with the words of the Bride who, animated and inhabited by the Spirit of filial trust, she who received the Holy Spirit in her baptism, addresses the Bridegroom and says come.
The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come! He who hears, let him say: “Come! He who thirsts, let him come. He who desires, let him receive the water of life, free of charge (Rev 22:17).