Wednesday, August 24 : Saint Peter Damian

The apostles are those precious pearls that Saint John tells us he beheld in his Revelation and of which the gates of the heavenly Jerusalem are composed (Rv 21:21). (…) For indeed, when the apostles reflect the light of divinity through their signs or miracles, they open the way to the heavenly glory of Jerusalem to people who have been converted to faith in Christ. And whoever has been saved because of them enters life as one on a journey crosses a threshold. (…) It is of them, too, that the prophet says: “Who are these that fly like clouds?” (Is 60:8). These clouds pour down water when they bedew the earth of our hearts with the rain of their instruction, making them fertile and apt to bear the seeds of good works. Bartholomew, whose feast day is today, means in Aramaic nothing less than: ‘son of a water-bearer.’ He is son of the God who raises the minds of his preachers to the contemplation of truths from on high in such a way that they can spread the rain of God’s word in our hearts efficaciously and abundantly . This is how they drink water at its source so that they can cause us to drink in our turn.
Roman Catholic Ordinary Calendar – rosary,team