Saint Bartholomew

The first Catholic School Mass of the year began with the Feast of Saint Bartholomew. Several weeks ago, I was looking ahead to this Mass and realized this was the feast we would be celebrating and how appropriate. As Jesus sent the disciples out into the world to proclaim the Good News, we are called to do the same. I see our Catholic Schools as a very important ministry. We are forming our young people in the faith and hopefully their faith will guide and sustain them as they grow. I also focused on our Catholic identity. What it means to be Catholic and how we are called to live our faith. I used the following commentary because it really says it all: "Bartholomew is one of the 'anonymous' Apostles: all the personal details of his life have disappeared behind the Gospel he proclaimed. Like John the Baptist, he decreased to nothing so that Christ might increase" (Magnificat, 322). I shared with the students and adults present this is what we are called to do. We cannot let ourselves and our will get in the way of proclaiming the Gospel. We need to decrease so that Christ will increase. Let us pray that Saint Bartholomew will intercede for us and guide us in being the disciples of our present day so that Christ will always shine forth. God Bless You!!!