24th of August

St. Bartholomew, patron saint of Armenia, pray for us

Along with his fellow apostle Jude Thaddeus, Bartholomew is reputed to have brought Christianity to Armenia in the 1st century. Thus, both saints are considered the patron saints of the Armenian Apostolic Church.

He is said to have been martyred in Albanopolis in Armenia. According to one account, he was beheaded, but a more popular tradition holds that he was flayed alive and crucified, head downward. He is said to have converted Polymius, the king of Armenia, to Christianity. Astyages, Polymius' brother, consequently ordered Bartholomew's execution

Pope Francis was in Armenia in 2016

‘In a largely Orthodox land where Catholics are a minority, Armenians seemed genuinely honoured to welcome a pope who has long championed the Armenian cause from his time as an archbishop in Argentina and now as leader of the 1.2-billion strong Catholic Church.’

In his initial remarks in the ornate Armenian Apostolic Church in Etchmiadzin, Francis didn't use the politically charged term "genocide" but instead spoke of the "holy sign of martyrdom" of Armenians who died at the hands of Ottoman Turks starting in 1915.

With the Apostolic patriarch Karekin II by his side, Francis praised Armenia for becoming the first nation to declare Christianity the state religion in 301 and for keeping alive the "light of faith" even in its darkest times.

"For Armenia, faith in Christ has not been like a garment to be donned or doffed as circumstances or convenience dictate, but an essential part of its identity, a gift of immense significance, to be accepted with joy, preserved with great effort and strength, even at the cost of life itself," he said.

The Vatican has long cheered the Armenian cause, holding up the poor nation of 3 million mostly Orthodox Christians as a bastion of faith and martyrdom in a largely Muslim region.

Reflections on the Gospel

We have found the one Moses spoke of

He is Jesus, son of Joseph, form, Nazareth

Nazareth, Can any good come out of Nazareth? Bartholomew asks.

'How do you know me?' Bartholomew asks Jesus.

Jesus replies 'I saw you under the fig tree.'

'Rabbi, you are the son of God, the King of Israel'

This interesting and curious dialogue is the dialogue if every person:

How do you know me?

Jesu knew us before we came to know Him.

In the prophet Jeremiah, we read: Before I formed you in the womb I knew you’. This applies not just to Jeremiah, or Bartholomew, but all of born and unborn.

What dignity we all have! And how it is discarded in today’s mind-set.

The Lord is introduced to Bartholomew by Philip who has already come to know Jesus simply in terms of parentage and geography. Philip is the great ‘human relations’ apostle who would also introduce the little boy with five loaves and two fish to Jesus.

But Bartholomew comes to faith in huge strides: Jesus is his teacher, Bartholomew his disciple, his follower and believer in Jesus’ divinity; and subject to His Kingdom, all at once, with his exclamation: 'Rabbi, you are the son of God, the King of Israel'.

And Jesus tells him he will see greater things than that, including heaven’s doors thrown up and the Son of Man in glory!