Can anything good come from that place?

 

Saint Bartholomew, apostle - Feast           24 August 2013

Revel. 21:9b-14.

One of the seven angels who held the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came and said to me, "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 Israelites.
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.

Ps 145(144):10-11.12-13ab.17-18.

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.

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 Israelite. 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 the sky opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."

 Commentary of the day :

Two things strike me about this passage. One that Nathaniel was quick to deride Jesus just because He lived in the insignificant town of Nazareth. Would we ever write someone off because he was a westie or coming from a poor area?

Second question:

What was Nathaniel doing when Jesus saw him under the tree? We will never know but it made such an impression on him that he made that bold proclamation "You are the King of Israel" and then followed Jesus to his own ultimate martyrdom.

When we have those Nathaniel moments they convict us that God really is watching all that we do and we are certain that He is assisting us towards our ultimate resurrection when we will see the angels ascending and descending!

 Saint Peter Damian (1007-1072), hermit then Bishop, Doctor of the Church
Sermon 42, 2nd for Saint Bartholomew ; PL 144, 726 

"You will see the sky opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man"

The apostles' glory is so indistinguishable and so bonded together by the cement of so many graces that in celebrating the feast of one of them the common greatness of all is called to our interior attention. For they share together the same authority of supreme judge, the same honorable rank, and they hold the same power to bind and loose (Mt 19,28; 18,18). They are those precious pearls that Saint John tells us he beheld in the Book of Revelation out of which are constructed the gates of the heavenly Jerusalem (Rv 21,21.14)... And indeed, whenever the apostles beam divine light through their signs or miracles, they open up the heavenly glory of Jerusalem to all peoples who have been converted to the christian faith...Of them, too, the prophet says: “Who are these who fly along like clouds?” (Is 60,8)... God raises the minds of his preachers to contemplation of truths on high... so that they can abundantly pour down the rain of God's word into our hearts. Thus they drink water from the spring so as to give us drink too. Saint Bartholomew drew from the fulness of this spring when the Holy Spirit came upon him, as on the other apostles, in the form of tongues of fire (Acts 2,3).Perhaps, hearing of fire, you don't see its relationship to water? But listen to how our Lord calls “water” the Holy Spirit who came down like fire on the apostles: “Let anyone who thirsts,” he says, “come to me and drink”. And he adds: “Whoever believes in me – as scripture says – 'Rivers of living water will flow from within him'.” And the evangelist explains: “He said this in reference to the Spirit that those who came to believe in him were to receive” (Jn 7,37-39). The Psalmist, too, says to believers: “They have their fill of the prime gifts of your house; from your delightful stream you give them