OXYGEN

24 Aug – Feast of St Bartholomew, Apostle

Bartholomew was one of the Twelve Apostles. He was probably a close friend of St. Philip, as his name is always mentioned in the gospels in connection with Philip, and it was Philip who brought Bartholomew to Jesus. He may have written a gospel, now lost, as it is mentioned in other writings of the time.

Someone preached in Asia Minor, Ethiopia, India, and Armenia and left behind assorted writings. Local tradition says it was Bartholomew.

- Patron Saint Index
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Apocalypse 21:9-14

The angel came to speak to me, and said, ‘Come here and I will show you the bride that the lamb has married.’ In the spirit he took me to the top of an enormous high mountain and showed me Jerusalem, the holy city, coming down from God out of heaven. It had all the radiant glory of God and glittered like some precious jewel of crystal-clear diamond. The walls of it were of a great height, and had twelve gates; at each of the twelve gates there was an angel, and over the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel; on the east there were three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. The city walls stood on twelve foundation stones, each one of which bore the name of one of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
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John 1:45-51

Philip found Nathanael and said to him, ‘We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, the one about whom the prophets wrote: he is Jesus son of Nazareth,’ ‘From Nazareth?’ said Nathanael. ‘Can anything good come from that place?’ ‘Come and see’ replied Philip. When Jesus saw Nathanael coming he said of him, ‘There is an Israelite who deserves the name, incapable of deceit.’ ‘How do you know me?’ said Nathanael. ‘Before Philip came to call you,’ said Jesus ‘I saw you under the fig tree.’ Nathanael answered, ‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are the King of Israel.’ Jesus replied, ‘You believe that just because I said: I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.’ And then he added, ‘I tell you most solemnly, you will see heaven laid open and, above the Son of Man, the angels of God ascending and descending.’
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Come and see

In occasions where acquaintances have not met for a long time, the topics of conversation inevitably will lead to the places one has studied and worked before. There seems to be an element of pride in this endeavour as everybody is trying to assess whether the other party has ‘made it’ in society. There is often a sense of scorn and skepticism when we hear that the individual did not take the ‘tried and tested’ route. We become like Bartholomew who questioned Philip, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”

Nazareth was a place that was not a very prominent place during the time of Jesus and it was not an area where great prophets or kings came from. This explains Bartholomew’s skepticism. I believe that society has conditioned us to judge a person based on his origins and the schools where he received his education.

Jesus invites us to go beyond such superficiality and consider the person as a human person and child of God. God loves all of us regardless of how sinful we are and what we have done. The scales of pride and envy that often cover the eyes of Man need to be removed with the balm of charity and understanding.

A spirit of charity and understanding can be developed through constant prayer with God. As we spend time before the Lord in quiet meditation, prayer and attending Mass, we draw strength from the Lord to bear all things patiently. In doing so, we will be able to view our fellowmen with the eyes of faith rather than the eyes of sin.

(Today’s OXYGEN by Nicholas Chia)
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Prayer: Mother Mary, intercede for us whenever we fail to follow the example of your holy life of prayer and forbearance.

Thanksgiving: We give thanks to the Lord for opportunities to look at our fellowmen as God sees them.

Upcoming Readings:
Tue, 25 Aug – 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8; Matthew 23:23-26; Memorial for St Louis of France, Married Man; Memorial for St Joseph Calasnz, Priest, Religious Founder
Wed, 26 Aug – 1 Thessalonians 2:9-13; Matthew 23:27-32
Thu, 27 Aug – 1 Thessalonians 3:7-13; Matthew 23:42-51; Memorial for St Monica, Married Woman
Fri, 28 Aug – 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8; Matthew 25:1-3; Memorial for St Augustine, Bishop, Doctor of the Church
Sat, 29 Aug – Jeremiah 1:17-19; Mark 6:17-29; Memorial of the Beheading of St John the Baptist
Sun, 30 Aug – Deuteronomy 4:1-2.6-8; James 1.17-18.21-22.27; Matthew 7:1-8.14-15.21-23; Twenty-Second Sunday of Ordinary Time