Word to the Wise
Monday, August 24, 2009 - St. Bartholomew, apostle
[Revelation 21:9B-14 and John 1:45-51]The wall of the city had twelve courses of stones as its foundation, which which were inscribed the twelve names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb.
One might wonder if one of those stones was inscribed: "Bartholomew [Nathaniel?]...Whatever!" The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and the Acts of the Apostles all say his name is Bartholomew. The gospel of John does not mention that name but instead mentions Nathaniel. The response to all this might be, "Who cares - as long as there were Twelve - that's why Matthias was elected to take Judas' place." We may have to be satisfied with this response. The scripture assigned for today, however, does not use the list from Acts 1:13 as the initial passage [which mentions Bartholomew], and assigns the "Nathaniel" passage from the Gospel of John as the second passage. Hmmmmm....I'll confine myself to tht Twelve and leave the identity of Bartholomew/Nathaniel to God. If one visits a church of the Eastern Rite that uses the "iconostasis" (a kind of wall between the altar and the people), one might look at the door in the middle of that wall and at the icon at the top of the door. That icon is invariably that of the Twelve Apostles. The emphasis there and in the scripture from Revelation is on the "foundation" of the faith and the church (cf. Ephesians 2:20) on the initial ministry of the apostles and continued through their successors whom we know as the Pope and bishops. In the Nicene Creed, which we say together on Sundays, we profess our faith in "one, holy, catholic and apostolic church...." - Bartholomew/Nathaniel was part of the process that led to the formation of the church, so we can honor him for that role. After all, tradition tells us that the apostle John is the only one of the Twelve who wasn't martyred! I'm sure Bartholomew/Nathaniel will answer to whichever name we call! AMEN
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