Saturday
24th August, 2019. Read Apocalypse 21:9-14, Psalm 145:10-18, John
1:45-51.
“Can
anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” *(John
1:46)*
It is so
easy to write off a person, a town or even a city. We Nigerians are so used to
asking a person “where are you from?” and this is a question that immediately
brings out our prejudice and further our divide. We relate with people not
based on what they are but based on where they come from.
Just
because you know one or two businessmen who are Igbo, you conclude that all
Igbo men are lovers of money. You read about Boko Haram on the internet, and
you suddenly assume every Northerner is a Muslim jihadist. Well, let me not say
anything about my own state, Edo, because it also suffers from a not-so-good
prejudice. The point is clear, we cheat ourselves by denying faith and reason
when we hold on to these false notions.
The life
of St. Bartholomew who we celebrate today is a clear testimony to this fact. He
was deeply prejudiced about Nazareth. Perhaps he had had some bad experience
about one or two people from that town and so he concluded that the entire town
was good-for-nothing. He was obviously not pleased when Philip told him that
the Long Awaited Messiah, Jesus Christ is from that same Nazareth.
Bartholomew
(also known as Nathanael) asked a question, “Can anything good come out of
Nazareth?” Imagine someone asking if anything can come out of your town. I
think the best response is for you to live your life in such a way that your
town would forever be famous because of you. Today, Nazareth is famous because
of Jesus Christ. Wouldn’t you also change the “sad story” of your town for
good?
Jesus said
two things about Bartholomew that sums up his life; one, he was a man without
any guile. Meaning, he was such an upright person unlike the Pharisees Jesus
condemned for their hypocrisy. Jesus read his heart and found him worthy of
that title. Can Jesus say such about me today? What are those secret sins and
bad habits I keep pushing under the carpet and pretending to be a saint before
the world?
The second
thing Jesus said about Bartholomew was that He saw Bartholomew under the fig
tree. A priest in his homily a couple of days ago explained that the fig tree
was a symbol of the prayerfulness of Bartholomew. Even before meeting Jesus
face to face, Batholomew had established the habit of going to the fig tree (a
quiet place; similar to the Blessed Sacrament) and what he didn’t know was that
each time he went there alone to pray, God was with him, taking note of his
prayer.
This is
the reason Bartholomew immediately called Jesus, the Son of God, the King of
Israel. Bartholomew’s faith in Jesus as God was firmly established because it
was obvious that only God could have seen him going under the fig tree to
worship. Do I realize that each time I go to a quiet place to commune with God,
I am not simply passing away a time? That I am really doing something that is
very important? Do I often visualize God looking at me even when no one else is
around?
Finally,
Jesus promised Bartholomew that he would see greater things; heaven opened and
the angels ascending and descending. This promise is not reserved only for Bartholomew,
it is for all of us so long as we are people without guile and we are as
prayerful as Bartholomew. Dear friends, every sacrifice we make for being
Christians is worth it because heaven is real and heaven awaits us who remain
faithful. That fact is further reinforced in today’s first reading. Don’t let
anyone deceive you that heaven is not real. Jesus can never lie.
Let us
pray: Lord Jesus, increase in me a longing for heaven. Amen. St. Bartholomew,
Pray for us.
Be Happy.
Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (Feast of St.
Bartholomew: Apocalypse 21:9-14, Psalm 145:10-18, John 1:45-51).
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