Daily Mass Gospel Reflection- The Number 12

Word on Fire Ministry ^ | 8-24-2021 | Aux. Bishop R. Barron

[MurphsLaw]

Feast of Saint Bartholomew

John 1:45-51

Friends, in today’s Gospel, Nathaniel declares to Jesus, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.” Nathaniel is also called Bartholomew, whose feast day we are celebrating.

Anglican Scripture scholar N.T. Wright has told us that when a first-century Jew spoke of the arrival of God’s kingdom, he was taken to mean something very specific. He was announcing that the temple was going to be restored; that the proper worship of Yahweh would obtain; that the enemies of Israel would be dealt with; and that, above all, the tribes of the Lord—and through them, the tribes of the world—would be gathered.

This is why Jesus chose twelve disciples, evocative of the twelve tribes. They would be the prototype and the catalyst for the gathering of Israel and hence the gathering of everyone. They would be the fundamental community and sign of unity.

[MurphsLaw]

The angel spoke to me, saying,
“Come here.
I will show you the bride, the wife of the
Lamb.”
He took me in spirit to a great, high
mountain
and showed me the holy city Jerusalem
coming down out of heaven from God.
It gleamed with the splendor of God.
Its radiance was like that of a precious
stone,
like jasper, clear as crystal.
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.
There were three gates facing east,
three north, three south, and three west.
The wall of the city had twelve courses of
stones as its foundation,
on which were inscribed the twelve names
of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb.

[Marchmain]

“Anglican Scripture scholar”?

I’d rather get interpretations from a Catholic scripture scholar.

[MurphsLaw]

Do you feel there is nothing to be learned from non-Catholics then?

That would be a big mistake.

I can personally assure you - reading C.S. Lewis will make you a better Catholic. Reading Bonhoeffer will open your mind to thoughts you won't learn elsewhere.

Cardinal Newman and Chesterton were Protestants half their lives before they converted....and it certainly didn't mean their brilliance didnt arrive until they became Catholic...

Seriously, read some C.S. Lewis...you will be glad you did.

[Marchmain]

Yes, I’ve read the Narnia Chronicles.

[MurphsLaw]

Have you ever read Mere Christianity? Abolition of Man?

[ebb tide]

Have you ever read the Syllabus of Errors?

The Syllabus Of Errors

Or the Oath against Modernism?

The Oath Against Modernism

They were both issued by catholic popes, pre-VCII popes, the latter, a saint.

[ebb tide]

From the Oath against Modernism, which Paul VI rescinded in 1967:

The purpose of this is, then, not that dogma may be tailored according to what seems better and more suited to the culture of each age; rather, that the absolute and immutable truth preached by the apostles from the beginning may never be believed to be different, may never be understood in any other way.