Tuesday, August 23, 2016
St. Bartholomew, Apostle
24 August 2016
Wednesday, 21st Week in Ordinary Time
St. Bartholomew, Apostle
Feast. Red.
Rv 21:9b – 14 / Jn 1: 45 – 51
St. Bartholomew, Apostle, from Cana in Galilee, is identified with Nathanael called by Jesus as one of his first disciples (Jn 1: 45 - 51). Tradition says he was martyred in India.
Gospel Reading: Jn 1: 45 - 51
Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found the one that Moses wrote about in the Law, and the prophets as well: he is Jesus, son of Joseph, from Nazareth."
Nathanael replied, "Can anything good come from Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see." When Jesus saw Nathanael coming, he said of him, "Here comes an Israelite, a true one; there is nothing false in him." Nathanael asked him, "How do you know me?" And Jesus said to him, "Before Philip called you, you were under the fig tree and I saw you."
Nathanael answered, "Master, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!" But Jesus replied, "You believe because I said: 'I saw you under the fig tree.' But you will see greater things than that.
"Truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man."
Reflection
In these days with constant news of terrorism, bombings, and other forms of violence on television and on the internet, it's very easy to create stereotypes with people we meet. We see a dark-skinned, bearded man with an accent boarding a flight and, right away, we'd think. . . "Hi-jacker" . . . or maybe, "suicide bomber!" A man entering a store wearing a hoodie could easily be seen as a shoplifter or thief.
Sometimes, it's difficult not to think like this, with these stereotypes but this was no problem for the Lord. Jesus only saw the best of each person whether Nazarene, Israelite or any other. Often, He would even see more good in a person than that person even saw in himself. Christ sees the goodness of God in our spirit. He sees the real us. What would it take for us to start seeing the goodness of God in others?
We need to go beyond what we notice initially. There are deeper levels to every person we encounter. We shouldn't just rely on first impressions. After the initial niceties and formal salutations, discovering the real person might be quite surprising. We realize that we all want to respect others and have others respect us. Jesus challenges us to level up and love one another, even the ones that we don't find lovable . . . at the start. Develop the relationship and again be caught off guard in a wonderful way.
WE PRAY FOR MTQ DAILY PRAYER DIARY INTENTIONS:
BIRTHDAY
Angelo Carlo A. Gonzales
Ray Cava
Bryce King
Finally, we pray for one another, for those who have asked our prayers and for those who need our prayers the most.
Have a good day!
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