Word to the Wise
Wednesday, August 24, 2022 - 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]
Sometimes the scriptures can invite funny thoughts. When I see the line, quoted above, from today's first scripture from the Book of Revelation, I find myself wondering if the stones with the names "Matthew" and "Bartholomew" have parentheses with "Levi" and "Nathanael" inscribed after them! The identification of the apostles as foundation stones of the church finds an echo in the Letter to the Ephesians 2:19-22: So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone.
As "Nathanael," today's honoree (Bartholomew) has a speaking part in the Gospel According to John which is recounted in today's gospel scripture. He is among the first to be called but has a problem with thinking of the Messiah as someone coming from Nazareth: "Can anything good come from Nazareth?" The reply from Philip, who recruits him, is "Come and see." His profession of faith upon meeting Jesus is quick: "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.:
The twelve apostles were a "mixed bag" but it is their names that are inscribed in the vision from Revelation. Their witness to the life, death and resurrection of Jesus "beginning from the baptism of John until the day on which he was taken up from us..." is the foundation of our faith in the "one, holy, catholic and apostolic church," which we profess in the Nicene Creed on Sundays and special solemn feast days. So, whether it is "Bart" or "Nate," we celebrate him today as the apostle who "has no duplicity in him." AMEN