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Homily for the Feast of Saint Bartholomew

 Dear friends,

A few words on the Feast of Saint Bartholomew.

Today is the Feast of the Apostle Bartholomew. In the Gospel of John he is also known by the name of Nathanael, and so today we have the reading from the Gospel of John about Nathanael.

In the Gospels of Matthew and Luke we find the passage in which Saint John the Baptist says to the pharisees: “Do not be proud and do not say among yourselves: 'We are descendants of Abraham.' God can raise up children to Abraham from these stones.” This is precisely what our Lord did with the Apostles. He took twelve stones and made of them precious stones upon which his Church would be built. Our reading from the Book of Revelation tells us that the heavenly Jerusalem is built on twelve precious foundation stones. The prophet Isaiah also tells us that the Lord will lay in Zion a precious stone as a foundation, and whoever relies on it will not be put to shame. In the same way, Psalm 118 tells us that the stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone, and we marvel at it! This is true both of our Lord and of his Apostles.

The Apostles were ordinary men, but they all had one thing in common: God's choice fell upon them. Scripture says that the gaze of the Lord rests on the humble and contrite of spirit, on the one who trembles at his Word (Isaiah 66:2).

Today let us pray for a change of heart and of spirit, so that we too may become poor in spirit, so that the gaze of the Lord and his choice may fall on us as well. To be a stone in God's building is God's work. If the Lord does not build the house, the builders labour in vain. In the life of the Apostles, every action was a work of grace.

Let us pray: as the Lord saw Nathanael from afar while he was sitting under the fig tree, so may our Lord look upon us too, so that we also may be blessed.

Jesus, look upon each one of us!

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