Some More On St Bartholomew

 In St John's Gospel, Bartholomew is referred to as Nathaniel. He is the one Jesus spots sitting under the fig tree. I have always suspected that the fig tree has some deeper symbolic meaning other than simply a place for Nathaniel to catch some shade.
This morning at Mass our priest gave a wonderful homily explaining more about the symbolism of the fig tree. As it turns out, in Jewish tradition the fig tree was a symbol for the Torah~ God's Word. It was further held that someone sitting under a fig tree received that word~symbolized by the fruit itself. The figs being as drops of God's word being given to the person there who is waiting for it and ready to be nourished by it.
I felt a little like those disciples on the road to Emmaus having Scripture opened up to them!
That message and symbolism is there for us just as it was for Nathaniel (Bartholomew). We are given God's Word in Holy Scripture; every word of the Bible points to Our Lord. We as Catholics are blessed to take part in God not just in His Word in Scripture, but in His very self in the sacrament of the Eucharist.
So go ahead~find the nearest fig tree, take your Bible along and be nourished by the fruit of God's Word.