Readings:
Revelation 22

John sees a river flowing from the throne of God and the Lamb, this is an allusion to the river in Eden and what Ezekiel prophesied when he saw the water flowing from Jerusalem in his visions. He also mentions the tree of life, and that hasn’t been mentioned since the beginning of Genesis when Adam and Eve were cast from the garden of Eden. This points to the garden being a mirror of heaven on earth.

A single stream issues from the throne of God, and that is the grace of the Holy Spirit in the stream of the Scriptures. That stream has two banks, the Old Testament and the New, and the tree planted on either side is Christ.

Saint Jerome

Verse 4 is where we find the source of the name of heaven in lots of Catholic writings and texts. It’s often called the Beatific Vision because we will behold God face to face. And his name will be written on our foreheads, like the name of those belonging to the beast had its name on their foreheads.

The vision closes out with John being told that everything he seen will happen and is soon to take place. This is just another reason that many people have a hard to believing that the entire book of Revelation is a futurist prophecy, it was written to these seven churches from the first couple of chapters because most of the book concerns things to take place in their immediate future. He’s even again reminded that this is all about to take place.

John is again overwhelmed and falls down to worship the angel and is again reprimanded. Once again it’s not that John was tempted to worship someone other than God, but that he was just overwhelmed by the whole experience.

The final benediction and closing of the book also closes out the entire Bible. Jesus claims many divine titles in his closing remarks to John, and then John finishes with an “amen” and a wish that the Lord return soon.

The Creed, like the last book of the Bible, ends with the Hebrew word amen. This word frequently concludes prayers in the New Testament. The Church likewise ends her prayers with “Amen.”

CCC 1061

In Hebrew, amen comes from the same root as the word “believe.” This root expresses solidity, trustworthiness, faithfulness. And so we can understand why “Amen” may express both God’s faithfulness towards us and our trust in him.

CCC 1062