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. This line from the book of Revelation, written probably around the year 90AD, is a testimony that the Church was founded on the apostles. Since Jesus left us no writings of his own we are dependent on the apostles for bringing his message to us. Today is the feast of an apostle, Bartholomew. He is named in all the lists paired with Philip. In John’s Gospel Bartholomew is not mentioned and Philip is paired with Nathaniel. Same person? First and last name? We don’t know — which tells us that being an apostle is something we can do anonymously.
