August 24, 2026
Feast of Saint Bartholomew, Apostle
Gospel: John 1:45-51

Today is Monday of the Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time. Today the Church celebrates the feast of Saint Bartholomew the Apostle. The recently published Missal tells us: Saint Bartholomew (1st century) was originally from Cana in Galilee, and is generally identified as Nathanael, the one brought to the Lord by Saint Philip. According to tradition, after Pentecost he preached the Gospel in Arabia, India, and Armenia, and there suffered martyrdom by being flayed alive. Therefore, he is the patron saint of tanners.

Today, the passage from the Gospel of Saint John tells the story of Jesus’ encounter with the Apostle Bartholomew. I would like to take this opportunity to offer some reflections.

In our daily lives, we often act like Nathanael (that is, Saint Bartholomew, whom we celebrate today), making judgments according to our own understanding of how the world works. (cf. Jn 1:45-46) Because in our eyes, those who come from impoverished areas or poor families are inferior to us in every way. When people around us mention them, we instinctively resist associating with them and refuse to have any dealings with them. For at that time, what we follow are the reckless impulses of the flesh; what we set our hearts on is everything that belongs to this world, rather than all the good things God bestows upon us according to His holy will.

In fact, before Nathanael received Philip’s invitation, he was sitting under a fig tree. (cf. Jn 1:47-48) This fig tree appeared in the account of Genesis after our first parents disobeyed God’s command and ate the fruit of that tree; at that time, they also made loincloths for themselves from fig leaves to cover their sin. (cf. Gn 3:1-7) Therefore, as soon as he heard Jesus reveal what had happened in his past life, he immediately professed that Jesus is the Son of God and the King of Israel. (cf. Jn 1:49) In this way, with Philip’s help, he discerned his vocation and professed it before Jesus. Likewise, in our lives, we too must, like Nathanael, abandon our former, ingrained ways of thinking. We should not base our understanding of faith on human beings, but rather, by contemplating those who, like us, are made in the image and likeness of God, and by reflecting on all that they have done in us in our daily lives, we can further discern our own vocation and, like Nathanael, generously fulfill it.

Strengthen in us, O Lord, the faith,
by which the blessed Apostle Bartholomew
clung wholeheartedly to your Son,
and grant that through the help of his prayers
your Church may become for all the nations
the sacrament of salvation.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.

©Totus Tuus 2026
Cum Approbatione Ecclesiastica