Gospel Reflection

August 24, 2013

Saturday – Year of Faith – Ordinary Time

Feast of Saint Bartholomew, Apostle

by Rev. Fr. Ernie M. Cruz, SDB - Rector, St. John Bosco Parish Church, Makati

6:30AM Mass, St. John Bosco Parish Church, Makati

                                      

Reading 1 Rv 21:9b-14

The angel spoke to me, saying, “Come here. I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” He took me in spirit to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. It gleamed with the splendor of God. Its radiance was like that of a precious stone, like jasper, clear as crystal. It had a massive, high wall, with twelve gates where twelve angels were stationed and on which names were inscribed, the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. There were three gates facing east, three north, three south, and three west. The wall of the city had twelve courses of stones as its foundation, on which were inscribed the twelve names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb.

Responsorial Psalm PS 145:10-11, 12-13, 17-18

R. (12) Your friends make known, O Lord, the glorious splendor of your Kingdom.
Let all your works give you thanks, O LORD,
and let your faithful ones bless you.
Let them discourse of the glory of your Kingdom
and speak of your might.
R. Your friends make known, O Lord, the glorious splendor of your Kingdom.
Making known to men your might
and the glorious splendor of your Kingdom.
Your Kingdom is a Kingdom for all ages,
and your dominion endures through all generations.
R. Your friends make known, O Lord, the glorious splendor of your Kingdom.
The LORD is just in all his ways
and holy in all his works.
The LORD is near to all who call upon him,
to all who call upon him in truth.
R. Your friends make known, O Lord, the glorious splendor of your Kingdom.

Gospel Jn 1:45-51

Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one about whom Moses wrote in the law, and also the prophets, Jesus son of Joseph, from Nazareth.” But Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Here is a true child of Israel. There is no duplicity in him.” Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?”  Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.” Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this.” And he said to him, “Amen, amen, I say to you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

HOMILY

We are celebrating today the feast of St. Bartholomew, one of the Apostles, one of those whom we know very little about. The little that we know is that Bartholomew comes from Cana, in Galilee, that he was the one introduced by Philip to Jesus, that he may have gone to Persia, and he died near the area, and was skinned alive, dying a martyr's death. That is the little that we know of St. Bartholomew or Nathaniel.

But we also know that he has always been in the roster of those mentioned by Jesus as 'the chosen 12'. He was hand picked by Jesus to be one of the Apostles, meaning, sent in order to bring the Good News to the world. They were sent, because they were willing to be sent. They accepted what the Lord wanted from them, that's why they were called the Apostles.

The Readings of today are also very significant, because they bring a different light to the person of Bartholomew and to us. The First Reading speaks about something of the future to come - that those called by God will not be left by themselves. They will be seated at the throne of the Father. The Book of Revelation is a book that talks about the years to come, the time to come. It is apocryphal - something difficult to understand, yet, at the same time, speaking of the future. The writer of the book of the Revelation will say, "The wall of the city had twelve courses of stones as its foundation, on which were inscribed the twelve names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb." The Apostles of Jesus were there, not just at the beginning. Till the end, they will be with Jesus.

In the Gospel today, one of the best descriptions that Jesus can give to a man, He gave to Bartholomew, when He talked of him as having no duplicity as a person. What you see is what you get. Bartholomew was very transparent; he will say what he thinks and what he believes is correct. Jesus saw in Bartholomew a person so simple, so transparent, one who would not put anything more than who he was. Jesus saw in Bartholomew a man of simplicity, a man with no double meaning in his words. He was that kind of a person, and Jesus liked him.

When Jesus invited Bartholomew and said, "I saw you under the fig tree.", probably that was the moment when Bartholomew was thinking of something and was asking the Lord for a sign of what would happen to him. He must have been reflecting on something that jived with what Jesus was saying and how Jesus was looking at Him, that Bartholomew could relate to Jesus very easily. And at once, he told Jesus, "Rabbi, You are the Son of God, the King of Israel." And Jesus told Bartholomew that He will see the Son of Man, and the angels of God coming up and down heaven. Putting together the book of Revelation, Jesus told Bartholomew that he will be there. There is a place for Bartholomew at the end of time.

It is so good to look at these readings and to relate it to ourselves. Everything that we have and everything that we are, is because of this person coming from Nazareth, our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is everything that we could think of, as the God who can do so much for us, only, if like the Apostles, we would be able to accept God's invitation of being sent. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.