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| Bamberg Apocalypse |
November Trinity
The end of Revelations 22: 12-21
“Watch, I am coming soon, and I will have my rewards with me so as to give to each person what his deeds amount to. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the goal.”
Blessed are those who cleanse their garments so that they will have power in the realm of the Tree of Life, which overcomes death, and may go through the gates into the Holy City. Outside shall remain those who are bound to low senses, those who serve evil powers, who walk impure paths of soul, who spread death around them, who give themselves up to demonic forces, and who, through their ways and deeds, falsify their true being.
“I, Jesus, sent my angel to report these things to your assembled communities. I AM the root and stock of David, the star who unfolds his brightness in the morning”.
And the Spirit and the Bride, the Holy City, say, “Come!
And may he who hears also say, “Come!” And may the thirsty come and may everyone who wants it get to drink the Water of Life freely, as grace.
Everyone who hears can find his inmost being strengthened in the prophetic words of this book. Whoever does not yet sense its greatness and truth, God will lead him to full knowledge through the trials of destiny which are written in this book.
And whoever diminishes the words of this prophecy, God will remove from him his share in the Tree of Life that overcomes death, and his share in the Holy City written about in this book.
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| Angers Apocalypse Tapestry |
He who lends these words their power says:
“Yes, I am coming quickly!”
Ye, so be it. Amen:
Come, Jesus our Lord
The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you all!
4th November Trinity
November 18, 2018
Revelation 22:12-21
When we receive a wedding invitation, first of all, we rejoice for the bride and groom. They have found love in one another and are joining forces. Then we must decide whether we will attend; and what we shall wear.
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| Carolsfeld |
This part of the Revelation to John is extending a wedding invitation to us. ‘Come!” it says. The invitation comes from the Spirit Bridegroom, whose very being is love; and it comes from the bride, the Holy City, the community of all those who have joined their lives to the Holy Spirit.
Come! they say. Join us in the great and joyous wedding of the God of Love and the Soul of Humanity. Drink the Waters of Life with us. Gather strength for what is always coming towards you from the future. Join us in preparing for what follows the wedding—the gracious birth—the arrival of the Son of Man.
We all receive the invitation, a standing invitation that arrives daily, weekly, yearly. Daily as an invitation to quiet prayer and contemplation; weekly as an invitation to the divine service that dedicates the souls of individuals and the soul of the community itself as an offering to the divine—the Act that consecrates the human being. And every year, at this time, the invitation is renewed as we are reminded of the great goal of humanity’s existence—union with the Divine.
In answering these invitations, we are attiring ourselves for the great wedding, in soul garments clean and radiant. We are preparing ourselves both for the wedding and the New Birth of the One who calls Himself the Alpha and the Omega, the Bright Morning Star, the Initiator and the Goal.
