
Responsorial Psalm 87:3
Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church
ยฉ๏ธ2021 Gloria M. Chang
I also saw the holy city, a new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

Journey to Wholeness

I also saw the holy city, a new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

Sorrow is not the end; through Christ, anguish gives way to unshakable joy that no one can take away.
Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy.ย … Read the rest

Since the time of the early church, the Fathers associated Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John with the four โliving creaturesโ in Revelation 4:7:
… Read the restThe first creature resembled a lion, the second was like a calf, the third had a face like that of a human being, and the fourth looked like an eagleย in flight.

The eternal Bridegroom and Bride form heavenโs royal temple, sealed in divine splendor.
Like a bridegroom adorned with a diadem,
Isaiah 61:10c
as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
Biblical marriage between a bridegroom and his bride has royal, sacred, and cosmic significance. … Read the rest

I will rejoice heartily in the Lord,
Isaiah 61:10a
my being exults in my God.
Holy Mother Church, the new Jerusalem, rejoices as one Body and one Bride.… Read the rest

In the viperโs den, perfect love reignsโfear flees where Christ is victorious.
… Read the restThe baby shall play by the viperโs den,
and the child lay his hand on the adderโs lair.

โYour country is waste, your cities burnt with fire,โ the prophet Isaiah rails in the opening chapter of his scroll (1:7a). Judah and Jerusalem are riddled with injustice, hypocrisy, murder, thievery, rebellion, and every sort of corruption.… Read the rest

How will the living stones of the New Jerusalem arise from the templeโs destruction?
… Read the restWhile some people were speaking about how the temple was adorned with costly stones and votive offerings, he said, โAll that you see hereโthe days will come when there will not be left a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down.โ

… Read the restAsked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he said in reply, โThe coming of the kingdom of God cannot be observed, and no one will announce, โLook, here it is,โ or, โThere it is.โ For

… Read the restWhile the crowd was pressing in on Jesus and listening to the word of God, he was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret.