August 24
Saint
Bartholomew, Apostle
Gospel: John 1:45-51
Today's Gospel: John 1:45-51 (Jesus Calls Philip
& Nathanael)
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 Israelite. 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 the sky opened and the angels of God
ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
Reflection:
Nathanael, traditionally identified with
Bartholomew, says something skeptical before he has even laid eyes on the Lord:
can anything good come out of Nazareth? It is an old kind of blindness, the
sort that still keeps us from recognizing grace when it comes from somewhere
we've already dismissed. And yet the Lord, in His mercy, does not rebuke him
for it. He looks upon Nathanael and sees straight to his heart: behold a true
Israelite, in whom there is no duplicity.
What a wonder, that Christ would honor the very
man who had just spoken so plainly against Him. But He was not honoring the
prejudice; He was honoring the honesty beneath it. Nathanael had spoken what
was truly in his heart, and that same unguarded heart is what let him fall to
his knees the instant the Lord revealed Himself. Come and see, Philip said. And
by grace, Nathanael went.
Nazareth was the hidden place where Our Lady kept
watch over her Son for thirty quiet years, unknown to the world. Nathanael's
doubt about that little town was answered forever: goodness itself, the very
Son of God, came forth from the place everyone else had overlooked.
Lord, what have I already decided isn't worth my time, a person, a place,
a chance I wrote off before I ever gave it a fair look? Give me the honesty of
Nathanael's heart, so that instead of judging from a distance, I come and see
for myself and let You show me the good I almost missed.
Rosary Man
Jim 🌹
Freely
given. Freely shared.
