Word to the Wise
Thursday, August 24, 2017 - Aug. 24 - St. Bartholomew, Apostle
[Rev 21:9b-14 and John 1:45-51]The wall of the city had twelve courses of stones as its foundation, on which were inscribed the twelve names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb. [Revelation]
AUGUST 24 ST. BARTHOLOMEW (NATHANAEL), apostle
The Catholic campus ministry here at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, TX (where I reside) is nearing the completion of a brand new center for the ministry. Like many church projects nowadays there will be a place where there are bricks with names on them. When I read the passage from the Book of Revelation describing the foundation of the New Jerusalem (a symbol of the church), a waggish instinct makes me wonder if St. Bartholomew's stone has a parenthesis with "St. Nathanael" on it? The Gospels of Mark, Matthew and Luke and the Acts of the Apostles go with Bartholomew, but the Gospel According to John calls him "Nathanael." At least the evangelist John provides the charming story of "Nathanael's" call to be an apostle, including the wonderful line, "Can anything good come from Nazareth?" In the other sources, there's just a name and nothing more is heard of the guy.
Each Sunday and big feast day we make the Profession of Faith in the "one, holy, catholic and apostolic" Church. The preaching of the Twelve was the foundation of the Church. The gospels make it clear that they were anything but perfect, but Jesus chose them anyhow. The same is true of those who have succeeded them in office. They are leaders of a very human Church which must do the best it can with the help of the Holy Spirit to spread the message of salvation brought by Jesus Christ. When we are baptized, there's a "brick" somewhere in the Church with our name on it. The Church is more than its foundation, but the foundation is essential. The memorial bricks outside the new John Saleh Catholic Student Center will remind the viewer of the faith of those who are memorialized, but it will be the living students who make the place come alive with the Holy Spirit. AMEN
config
view
logs
4096.0 KB
85 ms
4
