This week, the Church celebrates the feast of Saint Bartholomew, Apostle, one of the Twelve chosen by Jesus. Though the Gospels tell us little about him, tradition holds that Bartholomew is the same person as Nathanael and carried the Gospel to foreign lands and gave his life as a martyr for the faith. When Jesus first met him (John 1:47). Bartholomew was recognized for his honesty, openness, and purity of heart. Because of this, he was able to recognize Jesus as the Son of God and King of Israel.The life of Saint Bartholomew reminds us that discipleship begins with a willingness to be transparent before God. Jesus sees us as we are—our doubts, struggles, and weaknesses—but He also sees our capacity for faith, hope, and love. Like Bartholomew, we are called to be without guile, to live authentically, and to allow Christ to transform us into witnesses of His Kingdom.Bartholomew’s quiet but faithful witness encourages us to live with courage and integrity, trusting that even if our names are little-known, our lives can proclaim Christ to the world.Fr Simon
In this week’s rather unsettling Gospel reading from Luke, Jesus is very critical of those he calls ‘hypocrites.’ The word hypocrite in Ancient Greek (the language Luke was writing in) meant ‘actor’ or ‘pretender.’ Jesus calls on us not to be pretenders, but to be brutally honest with ourselves about how we fall short of his commandments to love God and one another. If we are honest and resolve to change our lives and the world around us for good, Jesus promises to love us with the unfathomable love he showed by dying on the Cross.Revd Richard
This Sunday, instead of being in church, I will be at the Norfolk Showground for Norjam, the international jamboree for Norfolk Scouts. I'm their county chaplain which means I will get to lead their Sunday service, which is a real joy. I love the way that scouting aims to equip young people for life and the scout motto, 'Be prepared' is probably the best piece of advice we can ever follow. It applies to everything in life. It's essentially what Jesus is telling us to do in this Sunday's Gospel reading from Luke. Be prepared, because you never know when Christ might return and we should be living lives worthy of that return.Revd Liz
The passage from our gospel today describes a situation in which siblings are disputing their father's estate, and Jesus responds with wisdom by choosing not to take sides. We can wonder exactly what the cause of the sibling dispute was but one can’t help but imagine that money must play a part in that.As he often does, Jesus does not give an answer but tells a story. This passage occurs between teachings in Luke’s Gospel focused on worry and human valuation. Both sections end with statements of reassurance: "You are worth more than many sparrows" and "You are of greater value than the birds." The main message is that Christian life is not defined by possessions, emphasizing the importance of inner worth and our need to be generous and consistent in our attitude towards God.Greed seeps into our lives. Many of us have possessions and riches our ancestors of 100 years ago would never have dreamed possible and yet we find ourselves curiously looking for more. We should be on our guard and remember our true worth, and that of every person, is found as a precious child of God. Our “things” never define us.Fr Simon
