The only way we know St. Bartholomew from the New Testament is because his name is in the list of apostles. That's it! He is identified with the apostle Nathanael who, when told that the Messiah was from Nazareth, asked, "Can anything good come from Nazareth?" (Jn. 1:46) Jesus paid him the compliment of saying that he was a true Israelite, without duplicity (Jn. 1:47). So, we know that Bartholomew was an honest man. We also know from legend that he died a martyr, undergoing the torture of having his skin cut off his body while still alive. As an apostle, he was a missionary to distant lands; some accounts have him preaching in Ethiopia and Mesopotamia, as well as India and Armenia.
Nevertheless, he was an apostle; one sent to preach the Good News. As an apostle, he had a special authority. It is on the apostles that Jesus built his Church. They are the ones who were trained by him, who were his closest friends and followers, who were called to witness to his mission. We are Christians because they spread the Good News to our ancestors.
However, Jesus gave ALL his disciples a commission: "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age." We are not apostles, but we are disciples. We go forth, in union with the successors of the apostles, the bishops and pope, to bring Christ to all the world, and even to our own neighborhood and workplace.
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