Faith Through Sight

Homily for the Feast of St. Bartholomew

Without a doubt, Bartholomew, one of the Twelve Apostles, is a figure clouded in mystery. While the Gospels of Saints Luke, Matthew, and Mark number him as one of the Twelve, the Gospel of John refers to him as Nathaniel. There is every reason to believe that the name Bartholomew is the surname while Nathaniel is the first name. Just as the apostle Simon was Simon bar Jonah, Nathaniel was Nathaniel Bartholomew.

The Gospel of John introduces the character of Nathaniel through Philip who goes to Nathaniel and says: “We have found the one about whom Moses wrote in the Law.” Philip introduces him to Jesus who says of Nathaniel, “Here is a true child of Israel. There is no duplicity in him." This is a reference to the first Israelite, Jacob, who was a man of guile. In the Book of Genesis, Jacob, a man who consciously stole his brother’s birth right, is regarded as a mischief maker who gains his position through guile. St. John is making the point that Jesus’ mission will be to the lost children of Israel.

When Nathaniel professes his faith, Jesus is quoted as saying, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this.” At this point we recognize that Phillip’s invitation to Nathaniel was simply put as, “Come and see.” He invited Nathaniel to come and experience Jesus himself. In other words, getting to know Jesus is best done through seeing and experiencing. Jesus is not a thought experiment. Jesus is a lived experience.

Throughout this short reading, “seeing” is used carefully and purposefully as the method of knowing. When we truly see something, it has a way of passing through our minds and entering our hearts. Seeing with our heart seems to have a depth of knowing that far exceeds the mind's ability to know. As we come to the Lord today in the Eucharist, we are privileged to enter into the mystery of the incarnate Jesus through the sacrament of his body and blood.