The angel spoke to me, saying, “Come here. I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” He took me in spirit to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. 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. (Rev 21:9b-14)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/082422.cfm
As the old Spiritual says: “Oh, what a beautiful city!” And we are that city--the dwelling place of God in the Spirit. Saint Bartholomew is famously depicted holding his own skin (he was flayed alive) in Michaelangelo’s Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel.
These reflections are a result of more than 40 years of ministry as a Roman Catholic priest. Most of these years I spent in the Diocese of Charlotte which covers Western North Carolina. Now I am retired, and live in Medellín, Colombia where I continue to serve as a priest in the Archdiocese of Medellín.
Saint Bartholomew, apostle, August 24
