Rev.
Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia
YOU
CAN BE THAT SIGN OF INTEGRITY IN A WORLD FULL OF DECEPTION AND CORRUPTION
In our
society today, morals and virtuous actions are no longer valuable and
fashionable as the society seems to be living, promoting and celebrating artful
deception, dishonesty, corruption and fraudsters. Integrity has become virus to
be eliminated as quickly as possible while heroes of deception and fraudsters
are honored and celebrated.
Today
we are called to change this ugly attitude and learn from St Bartholomew whose
feast we celebrate today. A man of integrity whom Jesus in our Gospel passage
today gave a great compliment when he met him and said “Behold an Israelite in
whom there is no guile.” For there was no deception in him. Jesus could see
right away that he was forthright, honest, open, plainspoken, straightforward,
innocent and unpretentious.
Bartholomew
is commonly known as Nathaniel in the Gospel according to John. A name which
means “gift of God” and tradition has it that he preached the Gospel to
Armenia, where he embraced martyrdom by being skinned alive before being
beheaded. He is now known to be the patron of butchers, plasterers, tanners and
he is also invoked to intercede in cases of convulsions.
Bartholomew
thought that nothing good can come out of Nazareth, but when he encountered
Jesus, he exclaimed, “Rabbi you are the son of God” and Jesus acknowledge his
faith and promised him that he will see the heaven opened angels ascending and
descending. Just like the angel revealed in our first reading saying: ‘Come
here and I will show you the bride that the Lamb has married.’ In the spirit,
he took me to the top of an enormous high mountain and showed me Jerusalem, the
holy city, coming down from God out of heaven. It had all the radiant glory of
God and glittered like some precious jewel of crystal-clear diamond.
This
teaches us that we should not underrate people because of their humbled
background. But like Phillip who introduced Jesus to Nathaniel, we are called
to share our experience of Jesus with those we encounter in life no matter
their background and ideology.
Dear
friends, the world needs people of integrity like that of St Bartholomew and
today we are called to imitate him, and be that sign of integrity in a world
full of corruption and deceit. Let our everyday encounter with Jesus help to
transform us, and by so doing we can transform the ugly situation in our
societies and the world at large through our witnessing.
Therefore,
let us like Bartholomew be courageous and exemplary in our actions, so that,
living by our faith and doing what the Lord has commanded us to do, we may
become great instrument that will win more people and save many more souls for
the Lord.
LET US
PRAY: Lord God, today we are reminded of the need to live a life of integrity
and witnessing in a world full of deception and corruption. Grant us through
the intercession of St Bartholomew, the grace to embrace your word and
experience your presence in our lives and so change our ugly and sinful ways of
life. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Wishing you uncommon favour
from the Lord.
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