Reading and meditation on the Word of God on Monday of the 21st week in ordinary time, August 24, 2026, Feast of Saint Bartolomew, Apostle

Delivered by Father Peter Tukan, SDB from Salesian Don Bosco Gerak in the Diocese of Labuan Bajo, Indonesia. Revelation 21: 9b-14; Rs psalm 145: 10-11.12-13ab.17-18; John 1: 45-51.A GENUINE PERSON The theme for our meditation today is: A GenuinePerson. Inside the basilica of Saint John Lateran in Rome, Italy, there are bigand wonderful statues of the 12 apostles of Jesus. Their positions are on theleft and right sides of the basilica interior; they seem to guard and assistpeople who are praying or doing their visit to this Catedral of the Bishop ofRome, who is the Pope. The statue of the apostle Bartholomew appears with historn robe and his skin is covered with open wounds. He holds a knife with bloodflowing. This image indicates, as is told in some historical accounts, the factthat this apostle died as a martyr through the torture of letting his wholebody skinned. Bartholomew knew Jesus for the first time when Jesusrecognized him as a genuine and sincere person. Bartholomew is an example of aperson who began a journey of faith as a sincere and credible person. This isdifferent from some people who started to follow the Lord as sinners such asMatthew the tax collector, Mary Magdalene and many others. Jesus' recognitionof Bartholomew was a positive act and brotherly support that the apostle sodeserved. However, in our ordinary relationship many of us do not experiencesuch recognition like the one made by Jesus. The enemies who opposed the Churchwanted to prove that Bartholomew was really a genuine believer, so he had to beskinned for they wanted to find the truth that was kept inside! Our genuinity or authenticity is a virtue and humanquality that make us worthy before God and capable to live with our neighbors.If the enemy wants to search and find it inside our bodies, it is absolutelyabsurd. A person who is genuine or true and can be trusted, he does not need towait to be recognized and introduced by others. He also does not need to waitif God is pleased to make him genuine. Every person needs to create withinhimself the qualities to become a genuine person. Thus Bartholomew teaches us today a lesson, namely theway to become a genuine person, that is to answer the needs of Jesus' mission.Jesus needs Bartholomew, in addition to the fulfillment of the number 12according to the scriptures that follow the number of the 12 tribes of Israel(as said the first reading), to comply the realization of His mission. We learnform this precisely because we have our respective call and mission that weneed to fulfill them. Our genuinity  ismeasured by this standard, namely to answer the concrete needs in our dailyundertakings. And so, a genuine husband or a genuine wife is the onewho answers the needs of his or her partner. A genuine priest, religious man orwoman is the one who meets the needs of the mission of the Church or each one'sreligious Congregation. A genuine public servant is the one who answers theneeds of society according to his profession as a public servant. Everyone canbe genuine in his or her respective field or profession when he or she isresponsible to answer the needs in that field or profession. Let'spray. In the name of the Father ... O Lord, may we be true in every calling andprofession in our lives. Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the HolySpirit ... In the name of the Father ...