+The readings from the book of Revelation and then from the gospel of John provide us with scenes not very familiar to us.
The first has war in heaven, Michael and his angels who battled against the dragon and its angels. In our gospel Jesus tells Nathanael he saw him under the fig tree before Philip had called him.
Jesus reveals himself as one who looks into our hearts, seeing in Nathanael “a true child of Israel. There is no duplicity in him.” Jesus looks at the core of our beings, discerning our innermost motivations. And isn’t this what enables us to be true to our Christian and monastic callings, getting us to explore what is going on deep down inside us. Often we are asked to do very ordinary things but with an abiding sincerity and love.
To do so is to “see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man” for it is to live in the presence of God’s Beloved Son carrying out all that he asks of us in our daily lives.
Rev 12:7-12a; John 1:47-51