Feat of St. Bartholomew, Apostle
(John 1)
On the Feast of St. Bartholomew, Apostle, we hear the gospel story about Nathanael. Why? In the lists of apostles in Matthew’s, Mark’s, and Luke’s gospels the name Nathanael doesn’t appear but the name Bartholomew does. This Bartholomew is always paired on the lists with the apostle Philip. In John’s gospel there is no mention of Bartholomew, but there is the story of Nathanael, a friend of Philip. It is logical that Nathanael and Bartholomew is the same person. Also, Bartholomew appears to be a surname since “bar” in Hebrew means “son of.” Some have concluded then that today we celebrate the Feast of Nathanael Bartholomew.
As interesting as the apostle’s name may be, we can commemorate him today for something more. He proclaims Jesus at first hearing as “Son of God and King of Israel.” As Jesus says, he is “without duplicity,” a straight shooter. He is also on the mark as he identifies Jesus correctly. At the end of John’s gospel another disciple, Thomas, will call Jesus “my Lord and my God.” But he will have the advantage of seeing him after the resurrection. Nathanael’s insight comes from his being, as Jesus says, “a true child of Israel,” who has faithfully waited for the Lord.
As Nathanael Bartholomew and all true Israelites waited for the coming of the Messiah, so we and all true Christians wait for him to come back. It might be a frustrating experience if we did not have some reason to believe that he is not far away. In fact, Jesus is present to us in the Eucharist where his Spirit nourishes and guides us. We still want him to reappear in human form to tell us secrets about ourselves, that are hidden from even our eyes, as he does Nathanael in the gospel.
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