Today’s Reflection
Gospel: Jn 1: 45-51
August 24, 2023 | Thursday

Today’s Gospel

Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the law, and the prophets: he is Jesus, son of Joseph, from Nazareth.

” Nathanael replied, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” When Jesus saw Nathanael coming, he said of him, “Here comes an Israelite, a true one; there is nothing false in him.” Nathanael asked him, “How do you know me?” And Jesus said to him, “Before Philip called you, you were under the fig tree, and I saw you.”

Nathanael answered, “Master, you are the Son of God! You are the king of Israel!” But Jesus replied, “You believe because I said, ‘I saw you under the fig tree.’ But you will see greater things than that. Truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”

Today’s Reflection:

Saint Bartholomew, an apostle of Jesus we celebrate today, suffered a martyr’s death by being skinned alive. As this is based on tradition and hence sometimes, we dodge this as fanciful imagination, recalling this part of his story against the background of the gospel message today somewhat gathers an insightful lesson. Jesus calls him a true Israelite for nothing is false in him. Hence, our Lord recognizes his boldness for truth and frankness about reality. When he questioned if some good comes from Nazareth, he does not want to mince his words. He calls spade a spade. One can say that eventually, he suffered death by skinning because it is a gruesome
narrative of being true — one is bared naked without covering even one’s skin! This is a naked challenge as well to us: are we still passionate about the Truth? Are we still a friend of truth? Or, do we dare to twist the truth just to save our own skin?  ./Vulnerasti, 2023