Feast Day: St. Bartholomew, Apostle

Statue of Bartholomew, Pierre Le Gros the Younger.

In St. John's Gospel, Bartholomew is known by the name Nathaniel (the liturgy does not always seem aware of this identity). He hailed from Cana in Galilee, was one of the first disciples called by the Lord. On that initial meeting Jesus uttered the glorious compliment: "Behold, an Israelite indeed in whom there is no guile!" After the Resurrection he was favored by becoming one of the few apostles who witnessed the appearance of the risen Savior on the sea of Galilee (John 21:2). Following the Ascension he is said to have preached in Greater Armenia and to have been martyred there. While still alive, his skin was torn from his body. The Armenians honor him as the apostle of their nation.

Catholic Culture

I just love Nathaniel who is so straight forward that when Philip tells him to come and see the Messiah, just up and says, "Can anything good come from Nazareth?" This is from someone who is from tiny Cana, so little that people argue to this day about where it really was. Just in case we didn't know how tiny and despised Nazareth was.

As Jesus says there truly is no guile in him, because when he mentions the fig tree, Nathaniel bursts out, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel." This is the honest soul who is akin to St. Martha, to St. Teresa of Avila, to St. Thomas — speaking truth with a sharp tongue while simultaneously acknowledging God with whole-heartedness. They resonate with me. (Read the whole exchange here. It's good stuff.)

I remember reading a commentary speculating about that Nathaniel was praying something specific under the fig tree, whose branches go down to the ground and provide a nice private spot. This illuminates one of those moments when a simple statement is a piercing truth that speaks to the heart from God ... and yet means nothing to anyone else around.

Notice what he's holding in the sculpture above? That's right, his flayed skin, the source of his martyrdom. Truly he was without guile and where he gave his heart, he followed to the end. Makes the things I suffer and offer up seem very small.