In the magnificent fresco of the Last Judgment painted on the wall of the Sistene Chapel at the Vatican, there is a very peculi- ar sight. It is one of three places in that magnificent structure that the artist, Michelangelo actually placed the likeness of his own face. Apparently, he had an incredibly morbid sense of humor, because it is one of the most macabre and grisly things I have ever seen. In the scene, the saints are gloriously as- cending into heaven as Jesus opens the gates of paradise.
Directly below Jesus is a man holding a knife in one hand and what looks like a rubber chicken in the other. On closer in- spection and with a little help from an art history class, one discovers that the person is St. Bartholomew, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus whose feast we celebrate this Thursday. He is holding a knife because, according to legend, he was martyred by having his skin flayed. And that rubber chicken is his own boneless sagging drooping, floppy skin in all of its gruesome glory.
Ah, they don’t paint ‘em like that anymore!!
To be totally honest, we don’t really know that much, historical- ly speaking, about Bartholomew. He was one of the twelve.
He seems to have been a friend of Philip. He may have been called Nathaniel (at least that is what he is called in John’s gos- pel). He was a bit of a smart-aleck since as he is to be intro- duced to Jesus he makes a rather snotty remark about what good can come from Nazareth. And he is recognized by Jesus as an honest man, an “Israelite without guile” an authentic per- son. And that’s it. That is all we know.
Then the legends kick in.
So we have good old Bart offering his own skin at the last Judgment in the exact spot where the Popes are elected. I found several even more bizarre legends, whose accuracy, historicity and truthfulness I cannot vouch for, but, boy howdy, they are great stories.
On the small island of Lipari, off the coast of Italy, there’s a legend that St. Bartholomew’s body was apparently found on the shore. (the least bizarre part of this story) The Bishop of the Church of Lipari ordered many men to get the body. But the big, strong strapping men of the island were unable to lift it due to its extreme weight. Then, for reasons that are beyond me, the Bishop then sent out the children of the village to retrieve the body. And, of course, the children easily brought the body ashore even though the older men couldn’t.
And thus, ever since, the people of Lipari celebrated Bartholomew’s feast day. The tradition of the people was to take the solid silver and gold statue from inside the Cathedral of St. Bar- tholomew and parade it through the town. One year, when tak- ing the statue down the hill towards the town, it suddenly got (you guessed it) very heavy and had to be set down. When the men carrying the statue regained their strength they lifted it a second time. After another few seconds, it got even heavier.
They set it down again and attempted once more to pick it up. They managed to lift it but had to put it down one last time.
Within seconds, the walls further downhill collapsed. If the statue had been able to be lifted, so they say, all of the towns people would have been killed.
Once the island was invaded and the king of the invading coun- try discovered the statue and ordered it be taken to be melted down. The statue was taken and weighed. It was found to weigh only two ounces and was thought to be hollow. It was returned to its place in the Cathedral in Lipari. In reality, the statue weighs several tons and it is considered a miracle that it was not melted down.
Now, do I believe all these stories are historically accurate? Well…no. But I do find it fascinating that many of these stories revolve around the weight of things, heavy things vs. light things. There is something there. Quite possibly in the midst of all these rather bizarre stories we are offered some insight into our lives. Maybe, just maybe, these fantastic stories have something to tell us, something to reflect upon especially as we begin a new school year.
I started thinking about heavy and light, weighty and frivolous, things profound and things insignificant and I concluded that a nagging problem in our world, in our community and in our school, quite possibly the central problem of our culture, is that we often make the light things heavy and the heavy things light. In doing so, we get all bent out of shape over things that ulti- mately are unimportant and inconsequential. How many times have we made a federal case out of something that was trivial, insubstantial and flimsy, something not even worth worrying about? On the other hand, we have a tendency to duck and sidestep some fairly weighty issues, primarily because they are so difficult, they are so heavy. We can miss the crucial things, blow them off, joke around it, make light of it and forgot that it is essential and fundamental, the core of who we are and what we are about. If you want a great example, just pay attention to our political process over the next few months. Without veering into partisan politics, how much will we deal with real issues, health care, infrastructure, and how much will we be drawn into the great non-issues.
As we enter into a new school year, we must ask God to cali- brate and adjust the scales of our hearts. We should ask God to gift us with the wisdom to weigh the issues and the problems of our lives accurately and honestly, to deal appropriately with the heavy things and to enjoy and celebrate the light things.
And not get the two mixed up. We need to foster in our lives a bit of the guileless character of St. Bartholomew, so that we can strive to become the authentic, honest, straightforward men and women that God sees in us.
I wish the story about the children of Lipari lifting what the adults could not, WAS true, because that has been my experi- ence in my years of teaching. Young people do make my life lighter, they make the heavy things manageable. Please help me to remember that in those times when I make mountains out of molehills and barbells out of feathers. And may we offer all up to Christ this school year. If he was willing to accept Bar- tholomew’s flayed rubber chicken skin, he will definitely accept our humble lives.