Apocalypse 21:9-14 / John 1:45-51
St. Bartholomew was one of the twelve Apostles called by Jesus, and he was listed among the Apostles in the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke.
He is usually identified as Nathaniel in the gospel of John as we have heard in the gospel passage.
He was introduced to Christ through St. Philip, another of the twelve apostles, and in their dialogue, we can see that the enthusiasm of St. Philip was met with the skepticism of Nathaniel.
Even though he didn't think much good can come out of Nazareth and Jesus, yet he accepted Philip's invitation to go along and see this person called Jesus.
And when Jesus saw him, He affirmed his frankness when He said that Nathaniel deserved the name "incapable of deceit".
And more than that, to be "under the fig tree" is a figure of speech to mean that one is reading and meditating on the Law.
So in essence, Nathaniel was a straight-talking and frank person. Yet he was one who keeps faith with the Lord and His Law.
So Nathaniel, or St. Bartholomew, tells us something about what we should be as disciples of Christ.
We may have our doubts or maybe we are skeptical about some things in life and maybe also about our faith.
Yet like St. Bartholomew, we need to be open to the mystery of life, and what we don't understand immediately cannot be thrown out immediately too. We need to "come and see".
Also we need to speak the truth always, and it's the truth that is rooted in Jesus.
Because openness to the truth, and living by the truth, will enable us to understand deeper the mysteries of heaven.