HOMILY FOR WEDNESDAY OF THE 21ST WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME CYCLE II
THEME: JESUS SON OF GOD…. “Come and see.”
BY: Mons. Christoph BOCKAMP Vicar of the Opus Dei Prelature in Germany
(Bonn, Germany)
HOMILY FOR WEDNESDAY AUGUST 24 2022
Feast of Saint Bartholomew, Apostle
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 1,45-51.
Today, we celebrate the Feast of Saint Bartholomew, apostle. Evangelist John so vividly narrates his first encounter with the Lord, that it is easy for us to visualize the scene. It is a dialogue between young, direct, frank… divine hearts!
Jesus casually meets Phillip and tells him “follow me” (Jn 1:43). Shortly afterwards, Philip, enthused about his meeting with Jesus, finds his friend Nathanael and tells him that, at long last, he has found whom Moses and the prophets wrote about: “Jesus son of Joseph, from Nazareth” (Jn 1:45). The answer he receives is not enthusiastic but rather skeptical: “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” (Jn 1:46). Something similar happens almost everywhere. It is common in every city or every town to be inclined to think that nothing worth its while may come from the next city, or town… there, they are all worthless… and vice versa.
But Philip does not get discouraged. And, friends though they are, he does not offer any additional explanation and just tells Nathanael: “Come and see” (Jn 1:46). He goes, and from the very first moment he sees Jesus his vocation comes to light. What, apparently, may look like sheer chance, it was, no doubt, set up since long ago in God’s plans. Nathanael is certainly not an unknown person to Jesus: “Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree” (Jn 1:48). What fig tree? Maybe it was just Nathanael’s favorite place where he used to go when he wanted to relax, to ponder, to be alone… under the loving gaze of God, though. Just like all of us, all the time. But to realize the infinite love of God for each one of us, to be fully conscious He is at my door knocking I need an external voice, a friend, a “Philip” who may tell me: “Come and see.” Somebody to take me to St. Josemaria Escriva’s way, which he describes like this: “May you seek Christ, may you find Christ, may you love Christ.”
Mons. Christoph BOCKAMP Vicar of the Opus Dei Prelature in Germany
(Bonn, Germany)
