By Stephen Langsianmunga Malneu csc –
Readings: Rev 21: 9b-14; Jn 1: 45-51
Today, we celebrate the feast of St. Bartholomew, who was an apostle. The encounter of Jesus with Nathanael gives us a clear glimpse of our call which we have received from Jesus, our master. Certain situations in our life disturb our thoughts, and we find it really hard to embrace the reality unless we have a clear vision of what the consequence would be. Many of us have set a goal in life to achieve.
Regardless of how successful we are in life; we still look for the inner happiness. Many of us may even think that there is no meaning in life until we become what we really want to be in life. And so, for us, Jesus is who we are looking for. Therefore, we need to learn from the two great personalities of Philip and Bartholomew. After having met Jesus, Philip immediately went to Nathanael and told about Jesus whom he had seen.
Like Philip, we must learn about Jesus more deeply to help people come closer to God. But this can be possible only when we have encountered Jesus personally in our lives. Though Jesus is not physically present with us, he comes into our lives in various forms. Therefore, our faith should help us believe in Jesus in order to know him closely and have him in our hearts. Once we are convinced that Jesus lives in us, we can proclaim like Nathanael, “Master, you are the Son of God!” to the people in and around us. These two great saints teach us that there is no reluctance once the inner desire or happiness is met. Let us be more joyful and be not discouraged as followers of Christ because we have Jesus to defend us and walk with us.