Nickname Nate

Sorting fact from fiction with our spiritual ancestors

08/24/2022

Jn 1:45-51 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one about whom Moses wrote in the law, and also the prophets, Jesus son of Joseph, from Nazareth.” But Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Here is a true child of Israel. There is no duplicity in him.” Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.” Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this.” And he said to him, “Amen, amen, I say to you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

There is a growing fascination today with discovering ancient ancestors. Recently, my brother has put together a family tree of the Antony Family that stretches its roots deep into the soil of India. But the farther back we go in time the facts become fused with fiction. That is, instead of birth certificates and marriage licenses that give us cold hard facts, we have to decipher details from stories and legends, which are often embellished and exaggerated.

By the way, one of the most popular websites to conduct an ancestry search is called “Ancestry.com”. Have you ever used it? It is based out of Utah, which has a very strong Mormon presence. One of the tenets of Mormonism is baptizing of people who passed away many, many years ago. They believe it is not too late to be baptized even hundreds of years after you have died. Based on that belief, they have done some of the most extensive research available on tracing ancestry. They work hard to sort the fact from the fiction in the fog of history, so they can baptize people.

Today is the feast of St. Bartholomew, and we want to sift fact from fiction about one of the twelve apostles. We are not going to use anecestry.com but rather Scripture and Tradition, which I believe is even more reliable to reach reality. Let’s do a little ancestor research on our ancient forefather in the faith named St. Bartholomew.

First, we learn from the Bible that he had two names, Bartholomew and Nathaniel. One name is in Latin, “Bartholomeus”, and the other is in Hebrew, “Nathanael.” Can you think of other apostles who also had two names? The chief of the apostles had a Hebrew name, “Simon” and also a Latin name, “Petrus” (Peter). Another apostle who wrote a gospel had a Hebrew name “Levi” as well as a Latin name “Mattheus” (Matthew).

In other words, having two names was not uncommon in the first century where people spoke multiples languages. Here at Immaculate Conception, for example, I have two names in two different languages. In Spanish people call me “Padre Juan.” In English, they call me “the greatest priest on earth.” See how easy it is to sort the fact from fiction when it comes to people’s names?

The second thing we learn about St. Bartholomew comes from today’s gospel from John 1. There we see Bartholomew referred to as Nathanael and discover how brutally honest he could be. When Philip tells Nathanael that they had found the Messiah from Nazareth, Nathanael scoffs, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” You see, Nazareth was a small, insignificant back-water town in Palestine, and an unlikely hometown for the Savior of the world.

But Bartholomew’s brutal honesty would serve him well a few moments later when he met the Messiah face to face. Bartholomew would blurt out: “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.” By the way, I have a good friend who has a propensity for being brutally honest, and I gave them the nickname of “Nate.” So, the Scriptures help us sort the fact from the fiction regarding St. Bartholomew’s petulant personality.

The third thing we discover about St. Bartholomew comes from Sacred Tradition, and not Sacred Scripture. According to tradition St. Bartholomew was martyred by being skinned alive. If you ever visit me in my church office, I will show you a painting of the Last Judgment by Michelangelo. Very close to Jesus is St. Bartholomew, holding in one hand a knife, and in the other hand his sagging skin.

In fact, if you look closely and examine all the saints in heaven in Michelangelo’s fresco, they are all holding the instrument of their torture and death. Why? Because that is how they died and were martyred, and gave glory to God. In other words, our cross on earth will be our crown in heaven. What looks like failure and foolishness on earth will be our claim to fame and fortune in heaven. Remember that as you carry your crosses. So, too, with St. Bartholomew, or Nate.

Incidentally, I am intensely interested in St. Bartholomew because according to another tradition he came to India and spread the Gospel. So, we Indians can boast of two apostles who brought Christianity to India: St. Bartholomew and St. Thomas. They are our forefathers in the faith, and that is the best kind of ancestry research.

Praised be Jesus Christ!