The Power of Testimony (HOMILY FOR SATURDAY OF THE TWENTIETH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR II (ST. BARTHOLOMEW - AUGUST 24, 2024)

HOMILY FOR SATURDAY OF THE TWENTIETH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR II (ST. BARTHOLOMEW - AUGUST 24, 2024)

Rev.21:9b-14; Ps.145; John 1:45-51

The Power of Testimony

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Bartholomew, an apostle of Jesus Christ who is referred to as Nathanael in today’s gospel. A greater part of the first chapter of the gospel of St. John records the testimony of John the Baptist about the Messiah and how he pointed out the Messiah when He finally came. John pointed the Messiah to two of his disciples (Andrew is one of them). Andrew, in turn, testified of this discovery to Simon his brother. Phillip found the Lord and could not keep it to himself. He too testified to Nathanael, whom we celebrate today.

The beginning of Bartholomew’s new life in Christ was the acceptance of the testimony of Philip despite the surprise that the expected Messiah is a Nazarene. Testimony remains a remarkable means of bringing people to Jesus. No one can grow in the Christian life if he/she does not accept testimony. Testimony is the story of those who have experienced the Lord. The whole of scripture is testimony.

It was Edmund Husserl, a philosopher of language who said that if we must successfully gain the truth of reality, we must bracket our biases and experience the world firsthand. When we keep away our biases, we will be free enough to gain pure knowledge. When we put this principle side-by-side with the initial resistance of Nathanael (can anything good come out of Nazareth), we gain insight on how to approach the scripture.

Nathaniel was able to follow Philip to meet Jesus not just because of Philip’s testimony but also because he (Nathaniel) bracketed his reservation about the town of Nazareth. When we open the pages of the Bible, we must open our hearts so as to be freely inspired by the Spirit of God. Reading the Bible should not mean looking for passages that suites us while overlooking the ones that we do not find palatable. For example, some Christians are very familiar with those passages of the Bible that talk about God blessing, restoration, protection and promotion for His people as well as destroying their enemies. But they quickly flip over those passages that talk about Christian suffering, shunning immorality, charity to the poor and so on.

Clearly, such persons are trying to direct God. If we must truly and holistically find God in the scriptures, we must be free enough to allow him direct us. The Word of God is a double edge sword, but this should not scare us. It does not pierce unto death; rather it pierces unto conversion and deeper communion with the Lord. When we openly and courageously approach God’s Word, we will become as blessed as Nathanael to whom the Lord said “you will see greater things”.