Daily Gospel Reflection - Feast of Saint Bartholomew, Apostle

Daily Gospel Reflection - Feast of Saint Bartholomew, Apostle

Daily Gospel Reflection - Feast of Saint Bartholomew, Apostle 

August 24, 2021 

Feast of Saint Bartholomew, Apostle 

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.” 

Source: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops 

Bishop Robert Barron 

Friends, in today’s Gospel, Nathaniel declares to Jesus, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.” Nathaniel is also called Bartholomew, whose feast day we are celebrating. 

Anglican Scripture scholar N.T. Wright has told us that when a first-century Jew spoke of the arrival of God’s kingdom, he was taken to mean something very specific. He was announcing that the temple was going to be restored; that the proper worship of Yahweh would obtain; that the enemies of Israel would be dealt with; and that, above all, the tribes of the Lord—and through them, the tribes of the world—would be gathered. 

This is why Jesus chose twelve disciples, evocative of the twelve tribes. They would be the prototype and the catalyst for the gathering of Israel and hence the gathering of everyone. They would be the fundamental community and sign of unity.