According to our creeds we are an apostolic church, a church founded on the twelve chosen by Jesus to carry his message to the whole world. Yet, as today’s feast of St. Bartholomew illustrates, we know next to nothing about them. In fact, in St. John’s gospel Nathaniel is the name given to the friend of Philip that the other gospels name as Bartholomew. The lesson in this: the apostles are absolutely necessary but completely unimportant. If they don’t get the Word out, it won’t go out. But who they rere, their faults and failings are secondary to the Word itself. So with us. God depends on each one of us to share Good News with those in our lives — but we are mere vessels.
