August 24, 2010
Feast of St. Bartholomew, Apostle
By Beth DeCristofaro
Your friends make known, O Lord, the glorious splendor of your Kingdom. Let all your works give you thanks, O LORD, and let your faithful ones bless you. (Psalm 145: 10,12)
Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one about whom Moses wrote in the law, and also the prophets, Jesus son of Joseph, from Nazareth.” But Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” (John 1: 45-46)
Piety
O Lord, I seek to be your friend. I am joyful and humbled that you have already chosen to be my friend. Help me be free of racism, intolerance, and impatience with those who are different or who do not live up to my expectations. Help me refrain from snap judgments and condemnation of what I do not fully understand. Help me instead to open myself to your presence and your mercy and recognize your friendship with those who are different from me. You alone are King over the glorious splendor of your Kingdom.
Study
“Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Not exactly the kind of thought we might expect from a future apostle! But, truth be told, certainly something you might hear from the guy who lives down the street…or from your own lips. Just this morning while talking with my family about a person who did something rather demeaning to a friend, I heard myself saying “Well, I sure hope he gets what’s coming to him!” Oops, as if I know the entire situation and the truth of it, “Come and see,” Philip says. Hold your judgment and your small mindedness, he declares. Come and see what God has in store. God alone knows the fullness of truth.
Today the question in the U.S. seems to be “Can anything good come from a Muslim community center and mosque?” It is as if what we hold as a primary truth in our identity as loyal Americans and Christians – that fanatic men who claimed to be good Muslims deliberately and cruelly destroyed and killed thousands of lives – is more important than the faith in action of this group of Americans who want to worship God and bring recreation to the neighborhood. This mosque is not being built on the twin towers’ footprint.
Bartholomew and Nathaniel are thought to be one and the same person. Even though Nathaniel had just dismissed and ridiculed him, Jesus called Nathaniel an Israelite without duplicity. Are we without duplicity? Can we “come and see” where God is within those who are different? Can we withhold our preconceived, self-centeredness and give space for the actions of God in our lives, our country, our world? Remember, just on Friday, the reading from Ezekiel showed God restoring life to dry, brittle bones. God can bring good even from Nazareth, from another religion, from death, from those who are mean, thoughtless, faithless, or even someone of another political/ethnic persuasion.
Action
Jesus was born in that dumpy town of Nazareth. Wonder if he was born on the wrong side of the tracks?
God gave me life. The fact that I am an American citizen is a wonderful, serendipitous gift. My life as a God-beloved being trumps my citizenship as it should for all my fellow Americans. How can I extend welcome to other God-created beings instead of putting up the walls of identity as a citizen which is a human created state?
