August 24, 2006
Surprise
Bartholomew was probably as surprised as the next guy when Jesus chose him as an apostle [Mt 10]. Nevertheless, there he was without a miter to his name, charged with a nonstipe job to heal sick Jewish dropouts and raise a few from the dead, including cleansing any who were leprous and exorcising any demons that got in the way.
It was a tough and dirty job, but it was one that Simon, the Samaritan sorcerer, was willing to die for and more than likely wished he had [Acts 8.18-21]. Anyhow, it all helped start what we get so carried away with that we now call it “apostolic succession,” only with more puffery and trappings and fewer exorcisms. We seem to prefer and claim the mainstream and pretty well forget the creeks and rivulets where those other itinerant mendicants who loved their Lord prayed and preached and simply settled for a little apostolic success here and there, now and then.
They did, however, most of them, just like old Bartholomew, end up getting called a “saint” and with their own red-letter day on the calendar. But for whatever that’s worth, it sure cost them a bundle.
[This rerun is turning into a St Bartholomew’s Day special, but so far, nobody’s picked it up as a DVD.]