Apocalypse 21:9-14 / John1:45-51
St Bartholomew was from Cana in Galilee, and he was often identified as Nathaniel in the gospel of John but the other gospels listed him together with Philip as one of the first apostles chosen by Christ.
From the gospel, we can make a presumption of what kind of character he was.
For one, he was a straight-forward and a straight-talking person, who said what he meant and meant what he said.
We can make that presumption when he made that statement: Can anything good come from Nazareth? That was indeed a raw and cutting frankness.
Nonetheless, he was an open-minded person because he followed Philip to see who that person Jesus was.
He was also a person of prayer, as attested to by Jesus, because to sit under a fig tree means to be under its shade of coolness and to pray and meditate on God's righteousness and a longing for the coming of God's kingdom.
So in effect, Jesus was affirming Bartholomew about his character. It was like He knew what kind of a person Bartholomew really was.
Similarly, Jesus also knows each of us through and through and He also wants to affirm our goodness.
Like St. Bartholomew, let us continue to follow Jesus as He reveals Himself to us.
May we also come to know ourselves deeper and be strengthened in our goodness.
May we also always meditate on God's righteousness and on God's kingdom and proclaim it in our lives.