YEAR B: HOMILY FOR FRIDAY OF THE 20TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME. FEAST OF ST BARTHOLOMEW
HOMILY THEME: PROCLAIM THE GOOD NEWS!
BY: Fr. Benny Tuazon
HOMILY:
(Jn. 1:45-61) Friday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time, Feats of St. Bartholomew
In today’s Gospel, Feast of St. Bartholomew, Jesus meets Nathaniel, who is also traditionally believed as Bartholomew. Nathaniel casted doubt on Phillips’ statement that Jesus was the one Moses and the prophets talked about. It is mainly because Jesus was known to have come from Nazareth, a place known for its notorious people. However, Nathaniel was convinced by Jesus when Jesus said that He knew him even before he was introduced by Phillip.
The apostles are our links to Jesus. In faith and religion, it is important that what are being taught and lived are what the founder had entrusted. The true religion attributed to the founder does not only depend on the proven link but more of the faithfulness to the teachings. In the Catholic Church, we are assured of this. The deposits of faith which the Lord Jesus had entrusted to the apostles had been received by the Church. Our claim of being the religion which the Lord Jesus had founded is based on what we have received from the apostles; what they had seen, heard, and experienced.
Surely, those who had followed Jesus and suffered martyrdom because of their faith cannot be construed to have been fooled or were deceived. In fact, they saw deeper. This is what we should try to discover too. For them to die for the faith only testifies to the truth and reality of what Jesus had said and done for us. Apostles had that responsibility and opportunity. As baptized, we share the same responsibility of propagating the faith through witnessing to the words and deeds of Jesus. We may not be given the grace of martyrdom, but we definitely were given the task to proclaim the Good News.
Saint Bartholomew! Pray for us!
