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From: Revelation 12:7-12ab

The Woman Fleeing from the Dragon (Continuation)

[7] Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon;
and the dragon and his angels fought, [8] but they were defeated and there was
no longer any place for them in heaven. [9] And the great dragon was thrown
down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of
the whole world — he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown
down with him. [10] And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salva-
tion and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ
have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accu-
ses them day and night before our God. [11] And they have conquered him by
the blood of the Lamb and by the word of the testimony, for they loved not their
lives even unto death. [12] Rejoice then, O heaven and you that dwell therein!”

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Commentary:

7-9. The war between the dragon with his angels, and Michael and his, and the
defeat of the former, are depicted as being closely connected with the death and
glorification of Christ (cf. vv. 5, 11). The reference to Michael and the “ancient”
serpent, and also the result of the battle (being cast down from heaven), reminds
us of the origin of the devil. Once a most exalted creature, according to certain
Jewish traditions (cf. “Latin Life of Adam and Eve”, 12-16) he became a devil be-
cause when God created man in his own image and likeness (cf. Gen 1:26; 2:7),
he refused to acknowledge the dignity granted to man: Michael obeyed, but the
devil and some other angels rebelled against God because they regarded man
as beneath them. As a result the devil and his angelic followers were cast down
to earth to be imprisoned in hell, which is why they ceaselessly tempt man,
trying to make him sin so as to deprive him of the glory of God.

In the light of this tradition, the Book of Revelation emphasizes that Christ, the
new Adam, true God and true man, through his glorification merits and receives
the worship that is his due — which spells the total rout of the devil. God’s design
embraces both creation and redemption. Christ, “the image of the invisible God,
the first-born of all creation; for in him all things were created” (Col 1:15-16), de-
feats the devil in a war which extends throughout human history; but the key
stage in that war was the incarnation, death and glorification of our Lord: “Now
is the judgment of this world,” Jesus says, referring to those events; “now shall
the ruler of this world be cast out and I, when I am lifted up from earth, will draw
all men to myself’ (Jn 12:31-33). And, when his disciples come to him to tell him
that demons were subject to his name, he exclaimed, “I saw Satan fall like light-
ning from heaven” (Lk 10:18).

In Daniel 10:13 and 12:1 we are told that it is the archangel Michael who defends
the chosen people on God’s behalf. His name means “Who like God?” and his
mission is to guard the rights of God against those who would usurp them, be
they human tyrants or Satan himself, who tried to make off with the body of Mo-
ses according to the Letter of St Jude (v. 9). This explains why St Michael ap-
pears in the Apocalypse as the one who confronts Satan, the ancient serpent,
although the victory and punishment is decided by God or Christ. The Church,
therefore, invokes St Michael as its guardian in adversity and its protector
against the snares of the devil (cf. “The Liturgy of the Hours”, 2nd September,
office of readings).

The Fathers of the Church interpret these verses of the Apocalypse as a refe-
rence to the battle between Michael and the devil at the dawn of history, a bat-
tle which stemmed from the test which angelic spirits had to undergo. And, in
the light of the Apocalypse, they interpret as referring to that climactic moment
the words which the prophet Isaiah uttered against the king of Babylon: “How
you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to
the ground, you who laid the nations low!” (Is 14:12). They also see this pas-
sage of the Apocalypse as referring to the war Satan wages against the Church
throughout history, a war which will take on its most dreadful form at the end of
time: “Heaven is the Church,” St Gregory writes, “which in the night of this pre-
sent life, the while it possesses in itself the countless virtues of the saints,
shines like the radiant heavenly stars; but the dragon’s tail sweeps the stars
down to the earth [...]. The stars which fall from heaven are those who have
lost hope in heavenly things and covet, under the devil’s guidance; the sphere
of earthly glory” (”Moralia”, 32, 13).

10-12. With the ascension of Christ into heaven the Kingdom of God is estab-
lished and so all those who dwell in heaven break out into a song of joy. The
devil has been deprived of his power over man in the sense that the redemptive

action of Christ and man’s faith enable man to escape from the world of sin. The
text expresses this joyful truth by saying that there is now no place for the accu-
ser, Satan whose name means and whom the Old Testament teaches to be the
accuser of men before God (cf. Job 1:6-12; 2:1-10). Given what God meant crea-
tion to be, Satan could claim as his victory anyone who, through sinning, disfi-
gured the image and likeness of God that was in him. However, once the Re-
demption has taken place, Satan no longer has power to do this, for, as St John
writes, “if any one does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ
the righteous; and he is the expiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also
for the sins of the whole world” (Jn 2:1-2). Also, on ascending into heaven, Christ
sent us the Holy Spirit as “Intercessor and Advocate, especially when man, that
is, mankind, find themselves before the judgment of condemnation by that ‘accu-
ser’ about whom the Book of Revelation says that ‘he accuses them day and
night before our God”’ (Bl. John Paul II, “Dominum et Vivificantem”, 67).

Although Satan has lost this power to act in the world, he still has time left, be-
tween the resurrection of our Lord and the end of history, to put obstacles in
man’s way and frustrate Christ’s action. And so he works ever more frenetically,
as he sees time run out, in his effort to distance everyone and society itself from
the plans and commandments of God.

The author of the Book of Revelation uses this celestial chant to warn the Church
of the onset of danger as the End approaches.

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

From: John 1:47-51

The Calling of the First Disciples (Continuation)

[47] Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and said to him, “Behold, an Israelite
indeed, in whom is no guile!” [48] Nathanael said to Him, “How do you know me?”
Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree,
I saw you.” [49] Nathanael answered Him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You
are the King of Israel! [50] Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, I saw
you under the fig tree, do you believe? You shall see greater things than these.”
[51] And He said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see Heaven opened,
and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”

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Commentary:

45-51. The Apostle Philip is so moved that he cannot but tell his friend Nathanael
(Bartholomew) about his wonderful discovery (verse 45). “Nathanael had heard
from Scripture that Jesus must come from Bethlehem, from the people of David.
This belief prevailed among the Jews and also the prophet had proclaimed it of
old, saying: ‘But you, O Bethlehem, who are little to be among the clans of Ju-
dah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler of Israel’ (Micah 5
2). Therefore, when he heard that He was from Nazareth, he was troubled and in
doubt, since he found that the announcement of Philip was not in agreement with
the words of the prophecy” (St. John Chrysostom, “Hom. on St. John”, 20, 1).

A Christian may find that, in trying to communicate his faith to others, they raise
difficulties. What should he do? What Philip did — not trust his own explanation,
but invite them to approach Jesus personally: “Come and see” (verse 46). In other
words, a Christian should bring his fellow-men, his brothers into Jesus’ presence
through the means of grace which He has given them and which the Church mini-
sters — frequent reception of the sacraments, and devout Christian practices.

Nathanael, a sincere person (verse 47), goes along with Philip to see Jesus; he
makes personal contact with our Lord (verse 48), and the outcome is that he re-
ceives faith (the result of his ready reception of grace, which reaches him through
Christ’s human nature: verse 49).

As far as we can deduce from the Gospels, Nathanael is the first Apostle to
make an explicit confession of faith in Jesus as Messiah and as Son of God. La-
ter on, St. Peter, in a more formal way, will recognize our Lord’s divinity (cf. Mat-
thew 16:16). Here (verse 51) Jesus evokes a text from Daniel (7:13) to confirm
and give deeper meaning to the words spoken by His new disciple.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.