Liturgical Readings for : Saturday, 24th August, 2024
08-24- Feast of St Bartholomew, Apostle
FIRST READING
A reading from the Book of the Apocalypse 21:9-14
Each of the twelve foundation stones bore the name of one of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
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.
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 144:10-13, 17-18
Response Your friends, O Lord, make known the glorious splendour of your reign.
1. All your creatures shall thank you, O Lord, and your friends shall repeat their blessing.
They shall speak of the glory of your reign and declare your might, O God. Response
2. They make known to me your mighty deeds and the glorious splendour of your reign.
Yours is an everlasting kingdom; your rule lasts from age to age. Response
3. The Lord is just in all his ways and loving in all his deeds.
He is close to all who call him, who call on him from their hearts. Response
Gospel Acclamation Jn 1: 49
Alleluia, Alleluia!
Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are the King of Israel.
Alleluia!
GOSPEL
The Lord be with you. And with your spirit
A reading from the holy Gospel according to John 1:45-51 Glory to you, O Lord.
There is an Israelite who deserves the name, incapable of deceit.
Philip found Nathanael and said to him,
‘We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law,
one about whom the prophets wrote:
he is Jesus son of Joseph, from 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. so 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.’
The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
Gospel Reflection 24th August, Saint Bartholomew John 1:45-51
Bartholomew is listed as one of the twelve apostles. He has tended to be identified with Nathanael who features in today’s gospel reading. Nathanael starts off being very sceptical about Jesus, ‘Can anything good come from that place – Nazareth?’ However, he finishes by making a great confession of faith, ‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are the King of Israel’. Yet Jesus goes on to tell him that although he has journeyed from scepticism to faith he is still only at the beginning of his journey of faith. Jesus promises him, ‘You will see greater things… You will see heaven laid open and, above the Son of Man, the angels of God ascending and descending’.
Nathanael will eventually come to see Jesus as the meeting point of heaven and earth, the one in whom God has taken flesh. Nathanael had made great progress on the journey of faith but he will make even further progress. His initial movement beyond scepticism was inspired by the witness of one of the disciples of Jesus, Philip, who shared his faith with Nathanael and encouraged him to meet Jesus in spite of his scepticism. We are all on a journey of faith. On that journey there may be a moment or many moments of scepticism. Yet, the Lord keeps calling out to us, very often through others, and promises us that we will see greater things. If that is to come to pass, we need people like Philip to support us on every step of our faith journey and we in turn need to be a Philip to others on their faith journey.
__________________________________
The Scripture Readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd.
