若望福音 1:45-51

納塔乃耳跟伯多祿有點相似,他們在意識到耶穌是誰以後,便馬上明認祂是天主子。我們在此看到斐理伯做了一件很重要的事,他把耶穌介紹給他這位輕視納匝肋的好朋友,若非因著他的一句話:「你來看一看吧!」,納塔乃耳可能要拐好幾個彎才認識到耶穌。
耶穌讚賞納塔乃耳:「在他內毫無詭詐」,這是指他誠實、真摯,不會為取悅他人而說奉承話。讓我們也反省一下自己的一言一行,耶穌會否也稱我們「毫無詭詐」呢?如果未能做到的話,我們祈求耶穌的寬恕和協助,希望也能早日如納塔乃耳一樣,得到耶穌的讚賞。
一些記載指聖巴爾多祿茂是被活生生剝皮並釘死在十字架上,亦有傳統提及他是被斬首殉道。聖巴爾多祿茂的象徵物是一把刀子,表示他是被人用這把刀子剝皮,傳統圖像上也會出現手臂上挽著自己的皮。
聖巴爾多祿,為我等祈!
John 1:45-51
Today, the Church celebrates the feast of St. Bartholomew. In the Gospel of John, he was called Nathanael. When Philip told him that he had found Jesus to be the Messiah, we can imagine him shrugging his shoulders as he said: "Can anything good come from Nazareth?" He had absolutely no expectation for anyone who came from that place. But due to Philip's invitation, he went to take a look.
Nathanael is pretty similar to Peter. Once he realized Jesus' identity, he proclaimed at once that Jesus is the Son of God. We see that Philip did done something extremely important, he introduced Jesus to his good friend who looked down on Nazareth. If not for his words: "Come and see", it might take Nathanael a lot more time before he came to know Jesus.
Jesus gave Nathanael a pretty strong compliment: "There is no duplicity in him." This means he was honest and genuine. He would not use flattering speech. Let us also reflect our own words and actions, would Jesus also say the same thing to us? If we fall short, let us pray for Jesus' forgiveness and assistance, that we could get the same compliment that Nathanael once got.
Tradition holds that St. Bartholomew was flayed alive and crucified, according to another tradition, he was beheaded. St. Bartholomew is often shown with a large knife, holding his own skin, or both.
St. Bartholomew, pray for us!