Thursday, August 24, 2017

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

Will you be found under the fig tree?

Celebrating St. Bartholomew the Apostle - 24th August, 2017
Rev. 21: 9-14; Jn 1:45-51

One of the 12 foundation stones, that is, the 12 apostles rooted firm in Christ, is St. Bartholomew whom we celebrate today! Jesus gives him two compliments - one, that he was a person who had no guile in him and second, that Jesus saw him under the fig tree!

Sitting under the fig tree, had a very special significance in that context and Bartholomew is interested and curious how Jesus got to know about him and his tryst with truth.  Sitting under the fig tree would mean (as we see in Micah 4:4), meditating on the Word of God, on the things that God expects from one, and on the way one relates to his or her world. Jesus has noted it. That was surprising for Bartholomew. Jesus is ready to surprise us, are we ready to be surprised? 

Will Jesus find us under the fig tree? How much importance do you attach on a daily basis to remaining in sacred silence... or to the reading of the Word of God... or to meditation on the Word... or simply to remain in that disposition to connect to the Lord... that is why the question, when Jesus wishes to, will you be found under the fig tree?