Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, we celebrate the feast of one of the Twelve Holy Apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, the principal and greatest followers and disciples of our Lord, who were the ones that helped to establish His Church on earth. And today, we celebrate therefore the feast of St. Bartholomew, also known by his other name of Nathaniel.

He was unique among the Twelve Apostles, for the Lord seemed to have a high opinion of him, when He called him to be His follower. He proclaimed to His other disciples, that St. Bartholomew, then known as Nathaniel, was a true and upright man in Israel, and that there are none other like him. Indeed, this is to show that Jesus called His disciples from various origins, from the humblest and the simplest, to the educated, and the righteous as well as the wicked ones.

But when He called the Apostles, Jesus made it clear to them that He did not call them for a life of privilege, and neither that their lives would be an easy one. They would not be called to a life of privilege and prestige, and the Lord made it clear again from time to time, that they would suffer the same persecution, challenges and difficulties that their Master had also experienced.

And indeed, many of the Apostles and the other disciples and followers of our Lord were harassed, rejected, cast out and had their lives made difficult because of what they believed in, and because of what they were preaching to the people so that these people would come to believe in Jesus and be saved. They would be led to torture places, imprisoned, and then most of them were martyred, that is they gave up their earthly life for the sake of the Lord and their faith in Him.

But all these were the prelude to the eternal inheritance and glory which our Lord had promised to all of them. As in the Gospel today, when Nathaniel, St. Bartholomew expressed his doubt at Jesus because He was from Nazareth in Galilee, Jesus spoke of how they would see great things, and they would see the Son of Man, Jesus Himself, glorified and revealed in His majesty.

This indeed they had seen, and they witnessed it, and they therefore preached about what they have witnessed and seen with their own eyes and felt with their own senses, of the Lord who died and rose from the dead in glory, and by His works, all are made whole and saved. And for that there were greatly rewarded. The clue to this is in our first reading from the Book of the Revelation of St. John.

St. John saw the vision of the new and heavenly Jerusalem, the Holy City that comes down from heaven, with all of its incomparable and unparalleled beauty and greatness, and the city has twelve great gates, on which lies twelve stones on which are carved the names of the Twelve Holy Apostles. Indeed, this is the vision of the fulfilment of Christ’s promise to the Apostles, as in His own words, He had said that the Apostles will sit on the twelve thrones to judge the people of God.

The essence of today’s Scripture readings, and what we have to take away with us today is that all of us have a share in the works of the Apostles, and we are their successors, in terms of the mission which God had entrusted them with. His mission for us is to go forth to all the nations, to all the peoples and preach to them, and be witnesses of His resurrection, and be the bearers of the Good News of His salvation.

There will indeed be challenges and difficulties, and our way forward will not be an easy one, but so had the Apostles and the disciples of the Lord met all kinds of resistance and oppositions during their ministry in this world. But we have to remember that God is always with those who keep their faith in Him. If we keep our trust in Him and place our faith in Him, then we truly have nothing to fear at all.

Let us all be ever more dedicated and devoted to our faith in the Lord, and let us all walk in the footsteps of St. Bartholomew the Apostle, committing ourselves ever more to bring forth the Gospel and the Good News to all the peoples, so that all may be saved together in God. May Almighty God bless us in all of our endeavours and shine His light upon us always. Amen.