Today, we celebrate the Feast of Saint Bartholomew, who is also known as Nathanael. In today’s Gospel, we hear that Philip invited Nathanael to “come and see” Jesus. Then, following a short exchange during his encounter with Jesus, Nathanael confessed to Jesus and Philip, saying that Jesus is "the Son of God. . . the King of Israel." Jesus responded to him with a promise that he “will see greater things than this” and that he “will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” Nathanael indeed saw something greater on the Sea of Galilee after Jesus’ Resurrection. Christ appeared to the apostles on the shore while they were fishing at sea (John 21:1-14). It was the third time that Jesus “was revealed to his disciples after being raised from the dead” (id).
As we see in today’s Gospel, what started as a friend extending an invitation to another friend to “come and see” Jesus truly transformed the life of Nathanael forever. I personally experienced something similar to this many years ago when my then girlfriend (who is now my wife) extended an invitation to me to attend Mass with her. For me, who was a non-practicing Buddhist at the time and did not know anything about the Mass much less Catholicism, that simple invitation to “come and see” Jesus in the Eucharist at Mass transformed my life forever. We got married in the Catholic Church. I received my Sacraments at the Easter Vigil the following year. And now, I have the blessed opportunity to serve God and his people as a Catholic deacon in the Church of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
My sisters and brothers in Christ, today’s Gospel should inspire and move us to be Philip to the Nathanaels in our lives. Philip shows us that leading others to an encounter with Jesus can be as simple as an invitation to “come and see” Jesus in the Eucharist at Mass, in Adoration before the Blessed Sacrament, or through the various parish ministries or events at our parishes. It only takes but an invitation to lead someone back to Mass, back to Catholicism and the Church, back to our Lord and our God. God can take this simple yet genuine gesture of ours toward another and transform the lives of the other person in the same way that He did for Nathanael, in the same way that Jesus did for me. He can do the same when we become Philip to the Nathanels in our lives and extend that invitation to “come and see” Jesus.
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