Bible Diary

Daily Reading

Feast of Saint Bartholomew, Apostle

LECTIONARY
629

FIRST READING

RV 21:9B-14

The angel spoke to me, saying,
"Come here.
I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb."
He took me in spirit to a great, high mountain
and showed me the holy city Jerusalem
coming down out of heaven from God.
It gleamed with the splendor of God.
Its radiance was like that of a precious stone,
like jasper, clear as crystal.
It had a massive, high wall,
with twelve gates where twelve angels were stationed
and on which names were inscribed,
the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel.
There were three gates facing east,
three north, three south, and three west.
The wall of the city had twelve courses of stones as its foundation,
on which were inscribed the twelve names
of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb.

PSALM

PS 145:10-11, 12-13, 17-18

Response: Your friends make known, O Lord, the glorious splendor of your Kingdom.

Let all your works give you thanks, O LORD,
and let your faithful ones bless you.
Let them discourse of the glory of your Kingdom
and speak of your might.

Making known to men your might
and the glorious splendor of your Kingdom.
Your Kingdom is a Kingdom for all ages,
and your dominion endures through all generations.

The LORD is just in all his ways
and holy in all his works.
The LORD is near to all who call upon him,
to all who call upon him in truth.

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."

Daily Reflection

In popular imagery, one often thinks of going “up” to heaven. Something about leaving behind the limitedness of the earth, and entering the expanses of heaven is very appealing.

The Book of Revelation, however, challenges this imagery. Much more than reaching towards God, we are reached by God. God comes “down” to us. The image of the holy city Jerusalem coming down and out of God, with radiant glory, glittering as a precious jewel of crystal-clear diamond, is an assurance of the gifts God seeks to give us.

Nathanael, whom many scholars identify as St Bartholomew, means Gift of God. He is complimented by Jesus as a man, incapable of deceit; because God’s gift is always a jewel — clear and transparent. Nathanael thought that Philip brought him to Jesus, but learns that it is Jesus who first knew him. Rabbis would often study and pray under fig trees and so it is only natural that Nathanael would go out to meet and recognise the Word made flesh.

May we too go “down and out” to others as gifts; instead of waiting for them to come “up and in” to us.