God Sees Us

The Apostle Bartholomew is believed to be the same Apostle also called Nathaniel. Today’s gospel speaks of how Philip brought Nathaniel to Jesus just as we all need to bring others to know Jesus. Nathaniel has a powerful encounter with Jesus that leads to him becoming one of The Twelve. Perhaps Nathaniel was feeling down and wondering if God heard his prayers. “Do you see me?” he might have prayed. Jesus says “Before Philip called you, I saw you.” He sees each of us as well. We don’t really know much about St. Bartholomew, but maybe this in itself is a good lesson. You don’t have to do extraordinary deeds and be written about in the history books in order to be holy. Bartholomew was a “true child of Israel” and a true follower of Jesus. May the same be said for all of us.