Feast of St. Bartholomew, Apostle
Today we celebrate the feast of the Apostle, St. Bartholomew. In our first reading for this feast, from the book of Revelation, the holy city Jerusalem is described. Of particular note for us for this feast is the description of the twelve foundation stones of the holy city, on which are inscribed the names of the Twelve Apostles, which would include the name of St. Bartholomew. We should also note that, since Revelation was written after the Resurrection of Jesus, the names of the Twelve Apostles would include St. Matthias and omit Judas Iscariot, the betrayer of the Lord. Matthias was chosen to take the place that Judas had fallen from by betraying Jesus and not repenting.
The Apostles become the foundation stones of the new Jerusalem because of their close association with Jesus. They were chosen by Jesus, received special teaching from Jesus, and were sent on mission by Jesus, two by two, preaching the Gospel and doing the works that Jesus was doing. Basically, Jesus was training them to carry on his mission. The one exception among the Twelve is Matthias, who replaced Judas. However, Matthias was chosen from among those who accompanied Jesus from the beginning (see Acts, Chapter 1), so he had many of the same experiences as the Eleven.
Our saint for today, St. Bartholomew was, of course, one of those chosen and prepared by Jesus to continue his mission after his Ascension. The tradition tells us that he traveled to the east from the Holy Land, and that he made it as far as India in his missionary travels. Otherwise, we don’t know much about him, except that he eventually died as a martyr. However, we today owe much of our faith to the witness of St. Bartholomew as well as to the other Apostles. Our faith is born from the Grace of God, and the experience that the Twelve had of Jesus and shared with the world.
Reflection by Fr. Aquinas Keusenkothen, OSB
Posted in Articles for Ordinary Time, Daily Reflections