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Today, 6th of December, we celebrate
Saint Nicholas
Rev 21:9-14
The angel spoke to me, saying: “Come here. I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” He took me in spirit to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. It gleamed with the splendor of God. Its radiance was like that of a precious stone, like jasper, clear as crystal. It had a massive, high wall, with twelve gates where twelve angels were stationed and on which
names were inscribed, the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. There were three gates facing east, three north, three south, and three west. The wall of the city had twelve courses of stones as its foundation, on which were inscribed the twelve names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb.
Ps 145:10-11,12-13,17-18
R. 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.
Let them discourse of the glory of your Kingdom
and speak of your might.
R. Your friends make known, O Lord,
the glorious splendor of your Kingdom.
Making known to men your might
and the glorious splendor of your Kingdom.
Your Kingdom is a Kingdom for all ages,
and your dominion endures through all generations.
R. Your friends make known, O Lord,
the glorious splendor of your Kingdom.
The LORD is just in all his ways
and holy in all his works.
The LORD is near to all who call upon him,
to all who call upon him in truth.
R. Your friends make known, O Lord,
the glorious splendor of your Kingdom.
John 1:45-51
Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found the one that Moses wrote about in the Law, and the prophets as well: he is Jesus, son of Joseph, from Nazareth."
Nathanael replied, "Can anything good come from Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see." When Jesus saw Nathanael coming, he said of him, "Here comes an Israelite, a true one; there is nothing false in him." Nathanael asked him, "How do you know me?" And Jesus said to him, "Before Philip called you, you were under the fig tree and I saw you."
Nathanael answered, "Master, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!" But Jesus replied, "You believe because I said: 'I saw you under the fig tree.' But you will see greater things than that.
Truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man."
Nathanael became an apostle somewhat by chance. He was passing by and ran into his friend Philip. Of course, we also have to assume that he was looking for something in his life. That’s why Philip told him about Jesus. If Nathanael had only been worried about the harvest or the illness or the damage to the roof of his house, Philip almost certainly wouldn’t have told him about Jesus. But Philip must have known about Nathanael’s concerns and that’s why he told him about Jesus.
Nathanael is a good example of what we often are. We have concerns but we also have prejudices. Concerns can open us up to other realities. We could say that they excite our curiosity, that they open or, at least, point out doors to the new, to the unknown, where perhaps we can find answers to our concerns.
But there are also prejudices. These are in charge of exactly the opposite. Why try new paths, why cross thresholds into the unknown if we already know what we are going to find behind them? It is that question of Nathanael to Philip: Can anything good come out of Nazareth? It seems that Nathanael already had everything under control. He knew what he was looking for and, at the same time, he didn’t want to search too much because he already knew…
Luckily, curiosity got the better of him than useless prejudice. And he was encouraged to follow Philip and meet Jesus. He discovered that yes, something good could come out of Nazareth. Good and surprising. That door he opened, that threshold he crossed changed his life. If he had stayed in prejudice, in the «I already know what’s there», he would have continued to be a child of God, but he would have missed the direct encounter with the one who is grace, the witness of God’s love for each one of us. He would have missed the opportunity of his life.
Conclusion: we must strive to overcome prejudices because God awaits us where we least expect Him. Even in Nazareth!
Fernando TorresIt is quite likely that Nathaniel of today’s gospel is the same person as the apostle Bartholomew. If so, he was an open and honest man, “in whom there was no deceit,” as Jesus said.
Lord our God,
would that it could be said of each of us:
”there goes and honest person
in whom their is no deceit,”
one who is worthy of the name Christian.
Make us into true disciples of Jesus
who live as we believe day after day,
and who cooperate in bringing people
to your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
– For faith in the Church and for confidence in the future, because we are certain that Christ is present among us, we pray:
– For the spirit of Christian love and of forgiveness for all people, for we are certain that all are invited in Christ to share in God’s unending happiness, we pray:
– For all who are baptized in Christ’s name, that they may follow their Savior in his love and spirit of service, we pray:
Lord our God,
you have called us together,
saints and sinners alike,
at the table of your Son.
Accept the willingness we offer you
to carry out in everyday life
the task you entrust to us.
Let your Son make us your new people
always open to the prompting of your love.
We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord.
Lord our God, loving Father,
in this eucharistic celebration
we have encountered your Son
as our Lord and Savior.
He has seen us and he loves us.
May we live as we believe,
that there be no deceit im us
but that we follow your Son
on the road of self-giving love,
for he is our Lord for ever.
What a great honor if the Lord can call us a true person, someone in whom there is no deceit! May almighty God bless you all, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
