24 August 2013 - understood

24 August 2013 - understood

Today Nathanael (St. Bartholomew) gives us a better perspective on what it means to be called by Jesus.

Firstly, Jesus uses Philip to invite Nathanael.  Philip is not required to have a complex syllogism prepared to persuade Nathanael.  Nathanael has his own preconceptions about Jesus just let everyone does today.  But Philip does not engage these points.  He simply says, "Come and see."  This is something that we need to be prepared to say as well.  We need to believe that there really is something to come and see.  It isn't simply bringing someone to a service or a talk.  It is bringing someone to a place where we are convinced they can encounter the power of God.

We can do this when we realize that Jesus knows and desires friendship with everyone we know since before we even meet them.  Indeed, before we are formed in the womb he knows us through and through (cf.  Jer. 1:15).  We long to be understood.  We long to be known as we truly are.  But we cannot experience being fully understood until we meet Jesus.  This encounter is so intimately personal that it transcends anything in our human relationships.

“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.”

This is because Jesus is the place where heaven and earth meet.  Angels ascend and descend on him just as on Jacob's ladder.  Only God can know us to our very core as Jesus does.  Once we experience this we can't help but proclaim it.

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

St. Bartholomew is particularly exemplary in this regard.

“Here is a true child of Israel.
There is no duplicity in him.”

He is pure of heart.  He is singleminded.  Once he knows Jesus proclaiming him becomes his one passion and joy.  It is for this reason that he becomes one of the twelve gates into the heavenly Jerusalem.  It is precisely this purity of heart that becomes the foundation for the heavenly city.

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.

Let us join this great saint in proclaiming the greatness of our God.

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.