“I John, your brother and your partner in tribulation, and in the kingdom, and patience in Christ Jesus, was in the island, which is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus. I was in the spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, saying: ‘What thou seest, write in a book, and send to the seven churches which are in Asia, to Ephesus, and to Smyrna, and to Pergamus, and to Thyatira, and to Sardis, and to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.”
Moving from the words of Jesus to his own words, John begins with great compassion for his audience. This is seen frequently in the New Testament writings, that consolation comes before a hard message: “Grace unto you and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 1:2), that you may know how loved you are before receiving bitter medicine, like a mother calming her child, that they may drink the medicine with love rather than fighting off a doctor and spitting it out: “Is there no balm in Galaad? Or is there no physician there? Why then is not the wound of the daughter of my people closed?” (Jeremias 8:22). St. John realizes that tribulation comes with the territory of serving in the kingdom of love: “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” (Matthew 16:24), and does not write to his people as a supervisor but as an equal: “You know that the princes of the Gentiles lord it over them; wand they that are the greater, exercise power upon them. It shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be the greater among you, let him be your minister: and he that will be first among you, shall be your servant” (Matthew 20:25-27). He is a brother, and a fellow soldier of the kingdom and worker in the vineyard, and writes from Patmos, the place of his exile, which is a mark of his understanding the cross that comes with divine love. “Patmos” itself means “trampled,” as the emperor Domitian was attempting to trample the love story unfolding between God and His people in the fledgling Christian Church. He was exiled there on account of his being a leader amongst the Christians: “The ancient to the dearly beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth” (3 John 1:1), but the Lord, who “is gracious and merciful: patient and plenteous in mercy” (Psalm 144:8), drew Him deep into the mysteries of divine love as he was enduring such hardship. This drawing was “in the spirit,” as St. John says, and while the Christian is called to a life in the Holy Spirit, “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25), which is to make one’s life one long act of love, there are particular moments when love unveils itself, either in receiving great love or insight from God, or in the exercise of one’s spiritual gifts in a particularly magnificent way: “How beautiful art thou, my love, how beautiful art thou!” (Canticle 4:1). The second is what is indicated here, which takes place on a Sunday, for when one sleeps from servile work and opens the eyes of their mind to God, which is the point of sabbath rest, one makes room for angels to come visit: “But while he thought on these things, behold the angel of the Lord appeared to him in his sleep” (Mattthew 1:20). It could be that this experience took place in a liturgical setting, with the highest expression of divine love in the Mass being the frame for this magnificent piece of art. While it is not healthy to expect some great revelation or mystical experience in prayer, this shows that the greatest opening for encountering Jesus is in the Mass, that He may express to you the depths of His love through the liturgy, for it is in the liturgy that you will most truly find yourself. Now, because love always seeks to share itself, with a full gift of self to the beloved, the voice from heaven calls St. John to share the gift of this love to the entirety of the Church, to hide nothing from those who need to hear it, and proceeds to name the seven centers of communication for the Christian communities. The names of these places indicate different aspects of the Church, as “Ephesus” means “New Town,” because the love of God removes the soiled garments of sin and clothes with new splendid garments: "’Take away the filthy garments from him.’ And he said to him: ‘Behold I have taken away thy iniquity and have clothed thee with change of garments’” (Zacharias 3:4); “Behold, I make all things new” (Apocalypse 21:5). The Catholic Church, then, is the town that keeps the new creation that is each of her members. “Smyrna” means “myrrh,” because love is a purifying agent, with the thought of the Beloved removing all other desires: “A bundle of myrrh is my beloved to me, he shall abide between my breasts” (Canticle 1:12), that is to say, in your heart. By the grace of the Church’s sacraments, sin will be cleansed, and encountering the Lord in them will draw you into His love. “Pergamus” means “citadel,” for the one in love looks from the heights to see where their beloved can be found, simultaneously being able to spot threats to that love and call for aid, thus in the sacred love poem the Beloved says, “Thy nose,” that is, your ability to know the fragrance and sound of your Beloved as opposed to that of the enemy, “is as the tower of Libanus, that looketh toward Damascus” (Canticle 7:4). Or, in referring to the Church, she can see errors by the perfection of her doctrine and point them out, keeping her members safe that they may not fall into error: “Then they understood that he said not that they should beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees” (Matthew 16:12). “Thyatira” means “she who rages madly,” for to fall in love is a sort of madness, transcending reason and being consumed by love: “And when his friends had heard of it, they went out to lay hold on him. For they said: ‘He is become mad’” (Mark 3:21), for love and wisdom are the two great goods of the soul, with love being the superior of the two: “The Greeks seek after wisdom: but we preach Christ crucified” (1 Corinthians 1:22-23). The Church is an entire community of people in love, and so it can be said to rage madly with love, with all being different expressions of love. Like a family, it can often appear quite messy, but it is bound by the Holy Spirit and love, and she is always victorious in over her messes. “Sardis” means “survivor’s camp,” for Love has many enemies: “The keepers that go about the city found me: they struck me: and wounded me: the keepers of the walls took away my veil from me” (Canticle 5:7), and those gathered in the arms of the Catholic Church are like Noah and his family gathered into the ark, as those immersed in vice drown in the flood of sin: “In the selfsame day Noe, and Sem, and Cham, and Japheth his sons: his wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, went into the ark… And all things wherein there is the breath of life on the earth, died” (Genesis 7:13-22). “Philadelphia” means “place of brotherly love,” because the Catholic Church is a place of love, with its members being gathered close together like seeds in a fig, wrapped in the sweetness of love: “The fig tree hath put forth her green figs” (Canticle 2:13). Finally, “Laodicea” means “place of people of common fairness,” or “justice of the people,” because the Church propagates a love that is just, virtuous, and wise: “If a man love justice: her labours have great virtues; for she teacheth temperance, and prudence, and justice, and fortitude, which are such things as men can have nothing more profitable in life” (Wisdom 8:7), transcending the low bar of “being a nice person,” she invites her people to true justice and proper worship, with her members pruning one another and helping each other grow in love and holiness: “And do not forget to do good, and to impart; for by such sacrifices God’s favour is obtained” (Hebrews 13:16). Thus, the names of the cities to which St. John writes extols the Catholic Church’s perfections, being the haven of divine love, and to whom this letter is addressed and by whom it can be properly understood.