Dom Donald's Blog: Newman St Bartholomew/Nathaniel

Dear William,

Surprise surprise, Bartholomew >>> Nathaniel.

PROMPTLY, I have to get back to Fr. Peter's Retreat talk on  Nathaniel. 

Commentary of the day : 

Benedict XVI, pope from 2005 to 2013 
General Audience of 04/10/06 (© Libreria Editrice Vaticana) 

Nathaniel-Bartholomew recognises the Messiah, the Son of God

                                     

        Dom Donald's Blog: Newman St Bartholomew: John Henry Newman’s thoughts about Saint Bartholomew for this Feast remind of the role, “ the history of St. Bartholomew … reca...

Tuesday, 24 August 2010

Newman St Bartholomew

John Henry Newman’s thoughts about Saint Bartholomew for this Feast remind of the role, “the history of St. Bartholomew … recall us to ourselves … (not to) go out of his line of life! …when a man begins to feel he has a soul, and a work to do, … and he says, "What must I do to please God?"   Newman’s words here  echo to often quoted prayer:  God created me to do him some definite service; he has committed some work to me which he has not committed to another. I have my mission - I may never know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next ... Therefore, I will trust him ... If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve him; in perplexity, my perplexity may serve him; if I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve him ... He does nothing in vain; he may prolong my life, he may shorten it, he knows what he is about. John Henry Cardinal Newman Official website for Cardinal Newman's Cause for Canonisation www.newmancause.co.uk

24 August

Saint Bartholomew Feast

Gospel according to John 1: 45-31

From a sermon by John Henry Newman (Parochial and Plain Sermons, volume 2, pages 335-337)

• When Philip told him that he had found the long-expected Messiah of whom Moses wrote, Nathanael (that is, Bartholomew) at first doubted. He was well read in the scriptures, and knew the Christ was to be born in Bethlehem; whereas Jesus dwelt at Nazareth, which Nathanael supposed in consequence to be the place of his birth, - and he knew of no particular promises attached to that city, which was a place of evil report, and he thought no good could come out of it. Philip told him to come and see; and he went to see, as a humble single  minded man, sincerely desirous to get at the truth. In consequence, he was vouchsafed an interview with our Saviour, and was converted.
• Now from what occurred in this interview, we gain some insight into St. Bartholomew's character. Our Lord said of   him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile! and it appears, moreover, as if, before Philip called him to come to Christ, he was engaged in meditation or prayer, in the privacy which a fig-tree's shade afforded him. And this, it seems, was the life of one who was destined to act the busy part of an apostle; quietness without, guilelessness within. This was the tranquil preparation for great dangers and sufferings! We see who make the most heroic Christians, and are the most honoured by Christ!     
• An even, unvaried life is the lot of most men, in spite of occasional troubles or other accidents; and we are apt to despise it, and to get tired of it, and to long to see the world - or, at all' events, we think such a life affords no great opportunity for religious obedience. To rise up, and go through the same duties, and then to rest again, day after day, to pass week after week. beginning with God's service on Sunday, and then to our worldly tasks! so to continue till year follows year! and we gradually get old - an unvaried life like this is apt to seem unprofitable to us when we dwell upon the thought of it. Many indeed there are, who do not think at all; but live in their round of employments, without care about God and religion! driven on by the natural course of things in a dull irrational way like the beasts that perish.   
• But when a man begins to feel he has a soul, and a work to do, and a reward to be gained, greater or less, according as he improves the talents committed to him, then he is naturally tempted to be anxious from his very wish to be saved! and he says, "What must I do to please God?" And sometimes he is led to think he ought to be useful on a large scale! and goes out of his line of life! that he may be doing something worth doing, as he considers it.
• Here we have the history of St. Bartholomew and the other apostles to recall us to ourselves, and to assure us that we need not give up our usual manner of life, in order to serve God; that the most humble and quietest station is acceptable to him! if improved duly - nay, affords means for maturing the highest Christian character, even that of an apostle. Bartholomew read the scriptures and prayed to God; and thus was trained at length to give up his life for Christ! when he demanded it.

Commentary of the day : 

Benedict XVI, pope from 2005 to 2013 
General Audience of 04/10/06 (© Libreria Editrice Vaticana) 

Nathaniel-Bartholomew recognises the Messiah, the Son of God

The Evangelist John tells us that when Jesus sees Nathaniel approaching, he exclaims: "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile!" (Jn 1,47). This is praise reminiscent of the text of a Psalm: "Blessed is the man... in whose spirit there is no deceit" (Ps 32[31],2), but provokes the curiosity of Nathaniel who answers in amazement:  "How do you know me?". Jesus' reply cannot immediately be understood. He says: "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig  tree,  I  saw  you".  We do not know what had happened under this fig tree. It is obvious that it had to do with a decisive moment in Nathaniel's life. His heart is moved by Jesus' words, he feels understood and he understands: "This man knows everything about me, he knows and is familiar with the road of life; I can truly trust this man". And so he answers with a clear and beautiful confession of faith: "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!" 


In this confession is conveyed a first important step in the journey of attachment to Jesus. Nathaniel's words shed light on a twofold, complementary aspect of Jesus' identity: he is recognized both in his special relationship with God the Father, of whom he is the Only-begotten Son, and in his relationship with the People of Israel, of whom he is the declared King, precisely the description of the awaited Messiah. We must never lose sight of either of these two elements because if we only proclaim Jesus' heavenly dimension, we risk making him an ethereal and evanescent being; and if, on the contrary, we recognize only his concrete place in history, we end by neglecting the divine dimension that properly qualifies him. 

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