Continued series on the priesthood

The seminary year goes beyond just the academic year. We are constantly reminded that seminarians are seminarians always, even when on “break.” This is to help us be ready to be priests forever. I don’t stop being a priest when on vacation.

Summers are filled with a wide variety of opportunities to grow. Some seminarians in our diocese, for instance, help with Totus Tuus or Love Begins Here or Camp Gray. College seminarians often have a job to help pay for their college tuition. Most seminarians will be assigned to a parish for the summer, helping out in various ways, to experience, at least for a little while, what it is like to live in a parish. Some seminarians, usually the summer before starting Theology, will attend the Institute of Priestly Formation in Omaha, a program intended to help us grow in our spirituality which doubles as a great opportunity to meet seminarians from all over the country we usually would not meet.

There are plenty of other opportunities for summers. Some seminarians, who do not study in Rome, go on the “Rome Experience,” which is led by

Fr. Eric Nielsen from our own diocese. My seminary hosted a pilgrimage and archeological dig to the Holy Land which I was blessed to join one summer. Other seminarians will have a summer of “Hispanic Immersion” where they live in a Latin American country in order to work on their language skills.

Nearly all seminarians have two summers in common. The first is a hospital chaplaincy. This is an incredibly valuable experience to learn about hospital ministry. I was blessed to spend my summer at

St. Mary’s Hospital in Madison where I worked with

Fr. Pat Norris. Seminarians from other dioceses usually spend theirs in various hospitals all over the country.

The second common summer is “deacon summer.” Most seminarians have one summer where they have already been ordained Transitional Deacons, but they still have to return for one last year of studies. We spend that summer in a parish, learning more closely with the pastor, and fulfilling “deacon duties” like serving at Mass, preaching, baptisms, weddings, and burials. Again, I was blessed to spend mine with the good people of Janesville at St. John Vianney Parish. This is, by far, the most difficult summer to end, because we have truly tasted ministry in a parish, our future, and must go back kicking and screaming to seminary.

Last week I wrote about life in general in the seminary, this week I wanted to focus on daily life.  There are variations for each seminary, but in general it is the same universally.
The day started early with Holy Hour and Adoration (optional) followed by Morning Prayer, Daily Mass, and breakfast.  Breakfast was often eaten quickly, if you had a 9:00 class.  The majority of the day was like any other college student with classes sporadically throughout the day between 9:00 and usually 4:00, though some classes were held later.  Of course, when not in class, we would find time to do schoolwork, workout, run errands, or nap.  The day “concluded” with Evening Prayer and dinner, though we sometimes had formational classes in the evening.  There also was usually a different sport played each night.  We always felt that we were busy, but at the same time we were promised that we would never have as much free time as we did in the seminary.  I have found that statement to be very true.
As you can tell, our day hinged around prayer, with our communal Morning Prayer before Mass and ending with Evening Prayer.  The great thing about communal prayer was that it helped us get into the habit because, again as they warned us, once out of the seminary we have to “schedule” our own prayer.  Once prayer becomes a “habit,” it becomes noticeable when it is missed.
Most seminaries, as far as I know, have a four-day school week.  In Milwaukee, we had classes Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday.  Wednesday was our “formation” day.  In Houston, the formation day was Friday.  Rather than regular classes, we had formation classes in the morning dealing with topics we would not get in our regular classes.  This included things like dealing with different types of personalities, to spirituality, to pastors coming to talk about their experiences working in schools.  The afternoon was often filled with chores or Schola (choir) practice.  In the evening, we had a formal dinner.  The reason for this was to give us an experience of how to properly dine, since we need to know how to properly comport ourselves in formal situations.  Personally, I was not a fan of Wednesday formation day because it meant every week we had two “Mondays,” but I’m sure there was a reason for it. 
Once or twice a semester we had a special Wednesday which was a Day of Reflection.  These were mini silent retreats where we had guided talks in the morning and afternoon, usually from someone outside the seminary, and they were meant to be days of rest and prayer.  These often came at good times when we needed a bit of a spiritual “boost.”


This week I wanted to focus a little bit on life in the seminary.  Seminary has a certain rhythm, both daily and yearly.  Similar to other schools, the seminary year begins in the fall and ends in the spring.  We typically have a two-semester schedule, though some, like St. Paul’s Seminary in Minnesota, have a January semester.
Every seminary has a yearly week-long retreat.  Most tend to have this in January before the spring semester, but my seminary in Milwaukee had our retreat in August before the school year started.  I always viewed it as a good way to kick off the school year in prayer.  These retreats are silent, directed retreats, meaning we always had a speaker (usually a priest or bishop) who gave talks during the day and we had dedicated times for silent prayer.
In seminary we had “house jobs”: responsibilities for the week or the year.  For instance, some served as sacristans for the year and were in charge of all liturgical functions.  One year I was the liturgical scheduler, so I scheduled which priest celebrated which Mass, servers and readers for Masses, etc.  We also had weekly jobs that we rotated: cleaning after dinner, laundry (for the house, not individuals), and security (walking around the seminary to make sure all doors were locked in the evening).  We were reminded: “those who do not work shall not eat.”
Each year in “major” seminary tends to have something unique about it.  As seminarians we have a series of steps leading up to the priesthood.  While the order can vary somewhat, typically this is the same at each seminary.  At some point in the first year of theology, the seminarian declares candidacy.  This essentially means that following philosophy studies, the seminarian, with the approval of the diocese, intends to complete studies to become a priest.  Usually in the second year of theology each seminarian becomes a Lector.  I was advised, and I think this is good practice, that before becoming a Lector each seminarian should read through the entire Bible to gain a better appreciation for Sacred Scripture.  This is separate from a Lector or Reader in a parish who is trained and designated to read in that church only, and only for a certain amount of time.  Any seminarian who has received the rite of Lector is actually the preferred Lector in any parish he may serve.  Typically, in third year we receive the rite of Acolyte.  An Acolyte is one who can specifically serve at Mass and may bring Holy Communion to the sick.  At the end of third year, seminarians are ordained Transitional Deacons (as opposed to Permanent Deacons, who will not move on to the priesthood).  All priests are deacons first, and must be so for at least six months.  Deacons, you may know, may baptize and witness marriages and serve at committals and funerals that are not Masses.  The beauty of these rites, which I experienced as I moved through them, is that we are gradually coming closer to the altar and the Sacrifice of the Mass. 


Following ether two or four years of philosophy, every seminarian moves on to four years of theology (sometimes called Major Seminary). Similar to philosophy, theological studies cover a wide range of topics. There are two major sections of theological studies: Scriptural and Systematic.

Scriptural studies, as you might guess, focus on studying the Bible. The books of the Bible are studied in groups, including Wisdom Literature, the Prophets, the Pentateuch, the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke; or sometimes Luke and Acts of the Apostles separately), Johannine Literature (Gospel of John, the Letters of John, and sometimes Revelation), and the Pauline Letters. The exact distribution and requirements can vary by seminary. It would not be controversial for me to say that, unfortunately, this is often the weakest area of seminary education. Too many modern Scripture scholars focus on the Historical-Critical Method (context, controversies, etc.) rather than what is needed in the parish, namely, a spiritual study of Sacred Scripture. Thankfully, there are good resources available today to help “fill in the gaps” left by inadequate seminary teaching.

Systematic studies are other areas of theological study such as the Liturgy, Moral Theology, Code of Canon Law, Christology and Mariology, Ecclesiology (the study of the Church), and Church History, among others. We also have classes on the Sacraments, both about them and “how to.” There are also classes on practical things like spirituality and spiritual direction and even counseling (though priests are not “counselors,” we do need the basic knowledge). Some seminarians take foreign language classes. According to Church documents, all seminarians are supposed to take Latin, but that does not always happen. Many take Spanish for ministry. Those who plan to study Scripture must take either Hebrew or Greek or both.

All those who complete seminary receive a Masters of Divinity, which is basically a Church-only degree. Some seminaries offer further studies and degrees. The seminary I attended offered an MA in either Scripture, Systematics, or Spiritual Direction (I completed one in Systematics). Seminarians in Rome often complete a License (S.T.L.) in a particular area of study which requires an extra year of study after ordination. Some priests will go on for a higher degree which is equivalent to a Doctorate in areas of Sacred Theology (S.T.D.), or Canon Law (J.C.D.). Pray especially for those poor souls.

Once being accepted as a seminarian, there are essentially two tracks to follow.  Those who enter with a college degree must take two years of “Pre-Theology”, meaning two years of philosophy studies.  Those without a college degree will go attend a university for a four-year degree in philosophy.  In either case, seminarians must “master” philosophy before they can tackle theology.
This can be difficult to understand, because we want to jump right into theology and studying God.  Isn’t that why we’re in the seminary?  After going through the process, I better understand the reasoning.  Philosophy is a necessary base of knowledge and thinking for theology.  I often had question myself, or my parents, why with a doctorate would I have so many years in the seminary.  Philosophy and theology are very different ways of thinking than history, and it takes those years to get a better grasp of how to think.
What do we study in philosophy?  There are actually many different classes, but ultimately, as I just said, philosophy is to help us think critically.  Some of the basic classes were walking through the different eras of philosophy (ancient, classical, medieval, modern, post-modern).  Here we received a rudimentary teaching on Ancient Greek philosophers like Zeno, Plato, Aristotle, Socrates, and others.  We also read the philosophy of saints like Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, and Bonaventure.  We were then able to move into the (largely false) philosophies of Rene Descartes, Voltaire, Karl Marx, and many others.  This helps us to trace the history of thought and to see where and why certain philosophers veered from the truth.
Besides the historical, we also have classes in particular areas of philosophy, like ethics, epistemology (the study of knowledge), and metaphysics (the nature of reality).  One of the most helpful classes for me was logic, which helps us to learn how to think logically and how to (hopefully) avoid logical fallacies.  The more I learned about logic, the more I realized that people claim that they think logically but, unfortunately, the vast majority of Americans have no idea how to actually think logically since it is never taught.  This becomes a major problem: making logical arguments to people with no knowledge of logic means that they cannot grasp the truth (a simple example: Murder is the killing of an innocent person.  An unborn baby is innocent.  Therefore, the killing of an unborn baby is murder.  Simple logic that many people cannot or will not grasp).

“There are two things you don’t want to know how they are made:  sausages and priests.”
I remember hearing this shortly after I joined seminary, and to a certain extent, it’s true.  With seminarian Mark Wagner joining us last weekend, however, I was thinking about how most people do not know the process of becoming a priest.  I thought it might be educational, and hopefully helpful, to write about this process for the next few weeks.  It should be noted that this looks different for each man, so I will focus on generalization and my own experience.
Discernment
The first part about joining the seminary is what we call “discernment.”  Each man who thinks he is called to be a priest must discern that call, whether or not it is right for him.  There is a good reason it takes years to become a priest, because it is not right for everyone.  Trust me, no one wants a priest who has an online certificate you can get in a matter of minutes.
Probably the best piece of advice I received during this process was to discern the seminary, not the priesthood.  That’s what the seminary is for.  Take things in order.  If a man tries to discern the priesthood from the very beginning it will be overwhelming, so we first need to discern whether or not we should join the seminary.
In my particular case, as someone with an advanced degree, my pastor suggested that I take a year to do what I want to do (teach) while I discern the seminary.  This was excellent advice for me because it gave me a year to really pray and think about it rather than rushing in.  That year was spent in Grand Rapids, teaching at Grand Valley State University and discerning with a spiritual director.  After awhile he pushed me and I agreed that I had nothing else to discern outside the seminary, I had to give it a chance.  So I did.
The other part of discernment is where to apply.  You may not know that there are basically two types of priests: religious order (i.e., Franciscans, Jesuits, Dominicans, etc.) and diocesan (also called “secular” priests, as opposed to “religious”).  Some are called to serve a religious order with a specific charism (teaching, preaching, work with the poor, etc.), others are called to serve a particular diocese.
This was another big part of my discernment, and a bit unusual compared to most.  Most seminarians have only lived one place and so they naturally will study for that diocese.  Since I had lived in many places, I did not really feel like I had a “home” diocese.  The vocations director in Grand Rapids suggested that I study where my family was, and so I initially applied to and was accepted to study for the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston.  More on the application process next week.


Gifts of the Holy Spirit

Knowledge

Knowledge is the ability to judge matters of faith and action in order to stay on the path of justice. While this may seem similar to “Wisdom,” “Counsel,” and “Understanding,” the distinction lies in the connection with Truth. Knowledge enables us “to judge rightly concerning the truths of the faith in accordance with their proper causes and the principles of revealed truth.”

n other words, knowledge helps us to look beyond the created things we sense around us to their creator. By seeing the creator behind created things, it allows us to use them (or not use them) properly in order to give proper respect to the Creator. Knowledge is also key to living a life detached from material things, since it helps us to understand that things are secondary to the One who created them.

Piety

Piety is paying reverence to God, but it goes beyond that. We revere God by also paying due respect to His creation, especially other people as brothers and sisters of Christ. Part of piety is also honoring the saints and honoring Sacred Scripture. Essentially everything we do, every interaction with others, should be done respectfully in order to honor God.

This is closely linked with “filial” love, which we should have for God our Father. Our love for God should extend to everything He has created, which is everything. It especially applies to our fellow sons and daughters of God. By loving them, we love Him.

Fear of God

We do not “fear” God in the same way we might fear snakes or spiders or heights. This is also not “servile” fear, the fear of punishment from a master. The Fear of God is a proper awe and respect towards God. We could also think of the fear of offending God.

I think of this sometimes in relation to contrition with the Sacrament of Penance. Incomplete contrition is when we are sorry because we fear the pains of hell. We fear the punishment that is due our sinfulness. Perfect contrition is being sorry because we have offended God. We should strive to avoid sins because they are sins and they offend God, not because we are afraid of getting caught. We should always strive for perfect contrition, and the Fear of God is a key to that

Counsel
                Counsel is similar to Wisdom and Understanding but it has a sense of docility or receptivity to God.  Counsel is allowing God to direct us in matters necessary for our salvation.  Counsel is key to forming our conscience, to understanding and following what is good while avoiding that which is evil.
                Counsel is closely connected with the virtue of prudence.  The main difference would be that anyone can practice prudence, but counsel is a supernatural gift.  When we are rich in Counsel, we can easily judge how to act in situations by intuition.  With Counsel, we should not fear standing up for the faith, because the Holy Spirit will guide us when faith and truth are questioned.  We can think about the Gospel of Luke, chapter 12, versus 11-12, where Jesus consoles his disciples by saying “when they take you before synagogues and before rulers and authorities, do not worry about how or what your defense will be or about what you are to say.  For the Holy Spirit will teach you at that moment what you should say.”
Fortitude
                Fortitude is the strength of mind to do what is good and to avoid evil.  This is especially the case when it is difficult to do so.  Fortitude allows the believer to overcome obstacles with the assurance of eternal life. 
                Fortitude is similar to Counsel but with important distinctions.  Fortitude is both a gift and a cardinal virtue.  It also gives us the strength to follow through on the actions given to us by Counsel.
Fortitude would be one of the most important gifts for martyrs.  Martyrs know, as we should know, that it is better to suffer death than to renounce God or the faith.  Fortitude is the strength to know that God is primary, and to willing accept any punishment that may come for His sake.  They remember and hold fast to the words of Christ in the Gospel of Matthew (10:28): “and do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.”  They know the truth of God, and will not give up renounce Him for anything.

Wisdom
                Wisdom is different from intelligence, which is how we typically judge people.  Wisdom is the knowledge of and judgment about “divine things.”  It is also the ability to judge and direct our actions according to divine truth.  With wisdom, we can discern the Truth, and act according to the Truth.  As the Baltimore Catechism suggests, wisdom helps us to “appreciate divine things, even crosses and tribulations, and really relish them, even though at times they may be repulsive to human nature.”  Our crosses, appropriately accepted, help bring us closer to God, and thus they should be “relished” rather than avoided at all costs.
                Wisdom is greater than intelligence because while intelligence is knowledge of things (science, math, history, etc.), wisdom is knowledge of divine things, which are inherently better and more important.  This is not to say that intelligence is bad or to be avoided, but it should always be appreciated within the proper context.  Many people are intelligent but lack wisdom, to their folly.  Intelligence without wisdom (like reason without faith), is soulless and without proper perspective.
                Wisdom has been called “the first and highest gift” because it is the perfection of faith.  It helps us to order our relationship to things and to God properly.  In other words, it helps us to put God first, and to love created things for the sake of God rather than for their own sake.  We can see this in the example of loving our neighbors because by doing so we are loving God.  Or, we can appreciate a beautiful sunset or a garden because they point to the beauty and goodness of God.
Understanding
                Understanding is the ability to see to the very heart of things, to get at their essence, especially higher truths.  Basically, it is the ability to “see” God at the heart of Truth.  The difference with wisdom is that while wisdom contemplates the things of God, understanding allows us to get to the essence of the Truth of faith.
                This is important because our faith is a faith of mystery.  This does not mean that it cannot be understood.  It means that we need to work towards understanding the deepest Truths.  A great example would be the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist.  This is a great mystery; how could God be really present in bread and wine?  It doesn’t look any different or taste any different.  We don’t see any change happen.  Yet it does, which is the great mystery of our Catholic faith.  Cultivating understanding helps us to grasp this great mystery of transubstantiation.  It is a mystery that, lacking understanding, led in some way to the Protestant Reformation.  The Body of Christ looks like bread, but truly is His Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity.  This is a Truth that Christians throughout history have struggled with, but it is a Truth that is essential to our faith and can only be grasped through understanding.


Now that we have finished looking at the Apostles, I wanted to take a break from biographies and talk about the Gifts of the Holy Spirit.  Before talking about them individually, I wanted to give a general overview of them.  They are: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of God.  The classic interpretation of them comes from St. Thomas Aquinas and his Summa Theologiae.
The gifts are enumerated in Scripture in a passage from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah (11:1-3).  “But a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom.  The spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him: a spirit of wisdom and of understanding, A spirit of counsel and of strength, a spirit of knowledge and of fear of the LORD, and his delight shall be the fear of the LORD.” 
You may recognize this as one of the Messianic prophecies (i.e., prophecies of the Messiah which point us to Christ).  This makes sense because only Jesus possesses these gifts in their fullness, and he freely shares them with the members of the Body of Christ.  These gifts are given to us in our Baptism, nurtured by a holy life practicing virtue, and sealed in the sacrament of Confirmation. 
According to Aquinas, these gifts are “habits,” “instincts,” or “dispositions” given to us by God in our supernatural process of perfection (which only is completed in heaven).  They need to be understood in light of the four cardinal virtues (prudence, justice, fortitude, temperance) and the three theological virtues (faith, hope, charity).  The gifts help us to practice virtue, and practicing virtue strengthens the gifts and produce the fruits of the Holy Spirit.
It should be understood that these gifts are meant to be practical guides to our daily lives.  We know this from the passage from Isaiah, which is part of the “Wisdom” literature in the Old Testament, like Proverbs, Psalms, Wisdom of Solomon, etc.  This literature was meant to help the people live holy lives according to the faith given to us by God.  This is how I will try to approach the Gifts of the Holy Spirit over the next couple of weeks.

Matthias

We end our look at the Apostles with St. Matthias, the one who was chosen to replace Judas Iscariot after the Ascension of Christ.  From that passage in the first chapter of Acts, we learn a lot about Matthias.  He was one of two men (with Joseph Justus Barsabbas) to be proposed by St. Peter from among the 120 men present.  They were chosen because they had accompanied Jesus from the baptism and had been witnesses of the Resurrection.  This means he would have been a close disciple, just not one of the original selected twelve.
Tradition states that he evangelized in Cappadocia (northeast Turkey bordering the Black Sea) to the coast of the Caspian Sea.  He may have lived primarily in the port city of Issus, which is in southern Turkey near the border with Syria.  He is believed to have been crucified in modern-day Georgia around the year 80 AD.  Another tradition says that he was stoned to death and beheaded in Jerusalem.
St. Matthias and the story of his becoming one of the apostles is extremely important for the Catholic Church for two reasons.  First, it is an example of Peter taking his place as chief of the apostles, validating the Chair of Peter, the Bishop of Rome, the Pope, as the head of the Church.  Second, it is the clearest scriptural evidence for apostolic succession, the belief that all bishops are chosen as successors of the apostles and thus have authority.  This authority has been handed down, literally by the laying on of hands when a priest becomes a bishop, from the apostles to today.  In fact, if they really wanted to, each bishop could follow their line of succession back to a specific apostle.
 

Jude

Jude is also known as Thaddeus or Judas Thaddaeus, with an intent to distinguish him from Judas Iscariot.  He is also named the brother of Jesus, once again remembering that this means he was probably a cousin, because he was the brother of James.  He is believed to be the author of the book in the Bible the Epistle (or Letter) of Jude.  This letter is a warning against those who infiltrate the faith in order to teach false doctrine and destroy the Church from within.
Tradition states that Jude evangelized in Judea, Samaria, Syria, Mesopotamia, and Libya.  He is also believed to have brought the Gospel message to Armenia with Bartholomew.  As mentioned last week, tradition holds that he was martyred with Simon the Zealot in Beirut in 65 AD.  He is often depicted with an axe, the means of his martyrdom.  Simon and Jude share a feast day on October 28.
St. Jude is often most remembered as the Patron Saint of Lost (or Hopeless) Causes.  This may have arisen because many early Christians were reluctant to venerate him due to his name being so similar to Judas Iscariot, the betrayer of Jesus.  Since Jude was ignored in prayers, he became eager to vouch for anyone who sought his assistance, interceding in the most dire circumstances.  He is also well known in the United States as the patron of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis.
 

Simon the Zealot

Very little is known about St. Simon the Zealot, who was given this name to distinguish him from Simon Peter.  He is sometimes known as Simon the Canaanite, but this is due to a mistranslation from the Hebrew word for zealous which is similar to the town Cana.  In fact, some say that the term “Zealot” is wrongly used, since it typically refers to a specific sect of Judaism formed in the 1^st century AD which sought to violently overthrow Roman rule (and may not have existed until after the death of Jesus).  The more proper translation, “zealous,” simply means “religious.”
Some traditions suggest that he may be Simon the “brother of Jesus,” meaning either a cousin or a son of Joseph from a previous marriage.  Others say that he was Simeon of Jerusalem, the second bishop of Jerusalem. 
From St. Isidore of Seville (not our patron saint), we have the tradition that Simon was part of an evangelizing team with Jude and that they were brothers.  This tradition states that he first traveled to Egypt, and then joined Jude in Persia and Armenia before they were martyred in Beirut in 65 AD.  Another tradition has him traveling to Britain.  Still others have him evangelizing in Africa, Spain, or other parts of the Middle East.  Most traditions state that he was crucified, while one says that he was sawn in half in Persia, which is why he is typically depicted with a saw.
Simon is a good example of how we actually know little about most of the apostles, and that’s okay.  There are many traditions that surround them, though usually one becomes most widely accepted.  Even if we do not know exact histories of them, we do know that they were intimately linked with Jesus and that He specifically chose them from among hundreds to carry on His message.  That should be enough to warrant our admiration and veneration.

James the Less

St James the Less is sometimes referred to as son of Alphaeus or as the brother of Jesus.  In this case, it is important to remember that in ancient cultures, and some cultures to this day, cousins are known as brothers and sisters.  His mother may have been Mary of Clopas.
He became the first bishop of Jerusalem and thus was incredibly significant in the early Church.  He became known as James the Just.  The apostle Paul mentions in his visit to Jerusalem that he met with James, the only apostles other than Peter that he met.  Paul called James, along with Peter and John, as the three pillars of the Church (Galatians 2:9).  Paul had been sent by the church in Antioch to speak with the Church in Jerusalem about the need for non-Jewish converts to convert to follow Jewish laws.
As bishop, James presided over this Council of Jerusalem in 50 AD.  This council, which can be found in Acts of the Apostles chapter 15, decided that Gentile converts to Christianity did not have to follow Jewish dietary restrictions except eating blood, meat containing blood, and the meat of animals that were strangled.  It also maintained prohibitions on fornication and idolatry.  This decision clearly separated Christians from Jews as a new and separate religion.
He was martyred by Pharisees on order of the High Priest Ananus ben Ananus in the year 62.  First, he was thrown from the pinnacle of the temple, but he survived the fall.  They began to stone him until one took a fuller’s club and beat him to death.
James is perhaps best known as the author of the Letter of James.  This letter is addressed to Christians outside of Palestine and was meant to give them encouragement and strength while they lived among pagans.  It is meant to give them examples of practical Christian living.  The letter is perhaps most well known for saying “faith without works is dead (2:26)”, which some incorrectly view as contradicting Paul’s view of justification by “faith alone.”  This misunderstanding led Martin Luther to call James the “Straw Epistle” (i.e., weak).

Thomas

St. Thomas is now often known as “Doubting Thomas,” since he at first doubted the Resurrection when he was told about it.  In the Bible he is also known as “Didymus” which means “twin.”  His proclamation of faith, “My Lord and my God,” remains a popular devotional prayer at the elevation of the Eucharist in the Mass.
It is believed that Thomas traveled to and evangelized India, reaching the most southern areas.  Accounts state that Parthia and India were assigned to Bartholomew and Thomas and were there in northern India until threatened.  He then departed and landed in Muziris (southwest India) in 52.  He traveled throughout southern India along the coast, evangelizing for the next 20 years.  Many of the churches he founded were along the Periyar River and the coast where there were already Jewish colonies.  Some traditions claim that Thomas traveled to China and Indonesia.  According to tradition, he was killed with a spear in Mylapore (southeast India) on July 3, 72.  His relics were carried back to Edessa (northern Turkey) by an unknown merchant.
Many, though not all, Christians in India are known as Saint Thomas Christians, tracing their faith back to the apostle.  Throughout history they had connections with the major Christian churches around the Mediterranean due to trade along the Silk Road.  Though most maintained a closer relationship with the Eastern Orthodox Church, there are two Eastern Catholic rites that are in full communion with the Roman Catholic Church: the Syro-Malabar Church (East Syriac Rite) and the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church (West Syriac Rite).  Most Roman Catholics, especially in the West, do not realize that the Roman Catholic Church is just one of many Catholic churches.  In fact, there are 23 Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with Rome.  This means they all have different rites and liturgies, but they all recognize the pope as the head of the Church.  While this deserves a larger discussion, all Roman Catholics are allowed to attend an Eastern Catholic Church liturgy (they usually call it Divine Liturgy rather than Mass) and receive Holy Communion.
Continued series on the Apostles

 

Matthew
With John, Matthew is one of two of the apostles attributed with writing a Gospel.  In that Gospel, it is mentioned that Matthew was a tax collector in Capernaum when he was called by Jesus to follow him.  This would have made him an outsider, hated by the Jewish community, though Jewish himself, because he was working for the Roman occupiers.  This also means that he would have been literate and highly educated, unlike most of the apostles.  He may have also been called “Levi,” which may indicate he was from the family of Levi, the only family that could become Jewish priests, making him unique among the apostles.
Church Fathers like Irenaeus and Clement agree that Matthew evangelized the Jewish community in Judea, perhaps for 15 years, before travelling elsewhere.  Various traditions hold that he preached south of the Caspian Sea, in Persia (Iran), the kingdom of the Parthians (Turkmenistan), Macedonia, or Syria.  While it is largely agreed that he was a martyr, again various accounts mention burning, stoning, and beheading.  It is also not known where he was martyred.
The four evangelists (Gospel writers) are often depicted as the four living creatures described in Revelation 4:7. Mark is the lion; he starts with John “roaring in the desert.”  Luke is an ox, representing the Temple sacrifice significant in his Gospel.  John is the eagle, soaring in prose above the others.  Matthew is the man because his Gospel begins with Jesus’ genealogy to emphasize the Incarnation.

Nathanael/Bartholomew

This is confusing for some people, that we have two names seemingly for the same person.  In the list of apostles in the Synoptic Gospels, he is named “Bartholomew,” however in the Gospel of John, there is “Nathanael.”  The best explanation may be that Nathanael was his name, but he was better known as Bartholomew, which means “son of the furrows” or “son of farmer.”
In the Gospels, Bartholomew is closely associated with Philip, as mentioned last week.  There are actually numerous traditions of where Bartholomew preached following the Ascension, including his traveling to India, Ethiopia, Mesopotamia (Iraq), Parthia (Iran), and Lycaonia (Turkey).  It seems as though, wherever he went before, he later traveled with fellow apostle Jude to Armenia.  Tradition states that he successfully converted the Armenian king Polymius.  This angered many people, including the king’s brother, Astyages, who had him tortured and executed.  He was flayed and beheaded.
Due to the manner of his death, St. Bartholomew is often depicted in art holding his own skin.  Perhaps the most famous example of this is Michelangelo’s massive fresco “The Last Judgment” on the wall behind the altar in the Sistine Chapel.  Though not all art critics agree, many see the face of the painter himself, Michelangelo, in the flayed skin of Bartholomew.  Some see this as Michelangelo praying that his old skin (he was in his sixties) would be cast off like a snake shedding its skin to purify his inward self.  Others see in it Michelangelo’s doubt about his salvation, since the skin hangs dangerously over Hell.  Also due to the manner of his martyrdom, Bartholomew is the patron saint of leather workers, bookbinders, skin diseases, dermatology, tanners, and trappers.
 

Philip
The Gospel of John mentions that Philip was from the city of Bethsaida and connects him with Peter and Andrew since they were from there as well.  He was also one of the disciples of John the Baptist who began to follow Jesus and called others, in his case Nathaniel (Bartholomew).  It seems as though Philip spoke Greek, and so he was linked with the Greek community in Jerusalem.
Following the Ascension, given his Greek background, Philip preached in Greece, Phrygia (central Turkey), and Syria with his sister Mariamne and Bartholomew.   In the city of Hierapolis (Phrygia), Philip converted the wife of the proconsul of the city, due to a miraculous healing and his preaching.  This angered the proconsul, who had Philip, Bartholomew, and Mariamne arrested and tortured.  Another story says that they killed a giant snake that the pagans worshipped, angering them.  In any case, he had Philip and Bartholomew crucified upside-down (similar to Peter).  Philip continued to preach from his cross, which moved the crowd to have them released.  Again, one legend says that the earth opened up and swallowed up many of the pagans in attendance, leading them to untie the apostles.  While Bartholomew was released, Philip died on the cross.  Another account says that he was beheaded in Hierapolis.  Philip’s relics can be found in the crypt of the Santi Apostoli Basilica in Rome.  The original tomb of St. Philip was found in Hierapolis by an Italian archaeologist in 2011.  It was part of a basilica on the top of a hill which included ancient Greek prayers and a coin depicting Philip and the same layout of the basilica.  The church had been a place of pilgrimage and veneration for centuries, including marble floors worn down by being tread upon by thousands of people.

James the Great

Since there were two apostles named James, they are typically distinguished as “Greater” and “Lesser.”  Apparently, he was either older or taller.  He was the son of Zebedee, the brother of the apostle John, and a member of Christ’s “inner circle” who joined him at the Transfiguration and other times.
James was the first of the apostles to be martyred, which is mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles (12:2).  In the year 44, he was arrested by King Herod (probably Herod Agrippa I) and executed by sword.  Herod, hearing that this was pleasing to the Jewish people, also had Peter arrested.  Peter, however, was saved by angels.
According to tradition, James may have traveled to Spain to evangelize prior to his martyrdom.  While his head remained in Jerusalem, his body was transported to Spain and eventually placed in Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, northwest Spain.  Since the 9^th century, the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela has been a significant pilgrimage site, the destination of “the Way of St. James” or the “Camino.”  In the late Middle Ages, the Church recognized the pilgrimage route with a plenary indulgence.
Traditionally, the Camino began as one left their house and ended at the cathedral, but over the years major routes were established with houses where pilgrims can get their books stamped on the way.  The scallop shell denotes the routes of the Camino.
Due to the plague, the Protestant Reformation, and numerous wars across Europe, the Camino declined to the point of perhaps a few hundred pilgrims in the 1980s.  Beginning in the 1990s, the Spanish government began to raise interest in the traditional pilgrimage, and by 2017 over 300,000 pilgrims (not just Catholics) completed the Camino.  

Andrew

Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist until he heard Jesus, was convinced that he was the Messiah, and began to follow him.  The Byzantine Church calls him Protokletos, or “the first called.”  He then convinced his brother, Simon Peter, to follow as well. 
Following the Ascension of Christ, Andrew preached in Scythia, a large area of Central Asia that includes southern Russia down to Afghanistan and Pakistan and west to the Danube River.  It is said that he preached along the Black Sea and up the Dnieper River to Kiev, and from there travelled to Novgorod in Russia.  He is, therefore, the patron saint of Ukraine, Romania, and Russia.  He then returned south and preached in Thrace (present-day Bulgaria and European-Turkey) where he founded the church in Byzantium (Constantinople, a.k.a. Istanbul).  In 38, he installed Stachys as bishop, and their bishopric became what is today the Patriarchate of Constantinople of the Eastern Orthodox Church.
Andrew was eventually martyred by crucifixion in the city of Patras, Achaea (western Greece) in 60.  He is said to have been crucified on a cross in the form called crux decussata, an X-shaped cross, which is now known as “Saint Andrew’s Cross.”  Similar to his brother Peter, he asked for this since he did not see himself as worthy to be crucified in the same manner as Christ.  The “Saint Andrew’s Cross” has been popular in heraldry and flags, perhaps most famously with the flag of Scotland and the Union Jack, among many others.

John

John the Apostle is also known as John the Evangelist since he was the author of the Gospel of John.  In that Gospel, he is known as “the beloved disciple,” and we hear that he was the only disciple present at the Crucifixion, at which time Jesus placed his mother Mary in his care.  John was the youngest of the apostles, and also the only one to die of natural causes.
It is believed that John and Mary lived in Ephesus (present-day Turkey) for some time, leading the Christians in that region.  While in Ephesus, he also wrote the three letters that are attributed to him in the Bible.  According to Tertullian, John was arrested and taken to Rome where he was plunged in boiling oil, with no effect to him.  The audience of the Colosseum which witnessed this miracle converted to Christianity.  John was then banished to the Greek island of Patmos, where he had the visions which lead to the writing of the Book of Revelation.
As an older man, the last of the apostles, John trained St. Polycarp, who became the Bishop of Smyrna and in turn taught St. Irenaeus, from whom many of the traditions of St. John are passed down.  St. Ignatius of Antioch was also a student of John.  It is said that at the end of his life, the Christians would ask him to preach, and he would only repeat the phrase, “Little children, love one another!”  When asked why he did this, he said it was because it was the Teacher’s most important message.  St. John died at Ephesus around the year 100.
   
                                                                                            Peter
Peter was, of course, the head of the Apostles and had a massively important role in the development of the early Church.  While most of the Apostles traveled far and wide to spread the Gospel to the Gentiles (non-Jewish people), Peter remained in Jerusalem for a while to preach to the Jewish people.  We can learn a bit about his life in the Acts of the Apostles.  We also have two letters written by him in the Bible to hear his theology.
Eventually James the Just became the head of the Church in Jerusalem and Peter travelled to other areas of the Roman Empire.  It is believed that he first traveled to Antioch to become their first bishop.  He may have also visited Corinth.  We do know that he eventually traveled to Rome itself to establish the Church in Rome and become the first Bishop of Rome.  Thus, he established the papacy, since from that time on his successor at the Bishop of Rome has been known as the pope and the head of the Church.  Peter was aided greatly by St. Paul to establishing the Roman Church, adding to the strength of the claim of Rome as the center of the Christian Church.  In fact, popes often sign their name with “P.P.”, standing for Peter and Paul.  It was in Rome that he wrote his letters, which he signed from “Babylon,” code for Rome.
It is believed that Peter was one of many Christians martyred following the Great Fire of Rome in 64, which Emperor Nero blamed on the Christians. 
Tradition states that he was fleeing Rome to avoid execution when he saw Jesus on the road.  He asked “Quo vadis, Domine?” (“Where are you going, Lord?”)  Christ’s reply was “Romam eo iterum crucifigi,” “I am going to Rome to be crucified again.”  At that, Peter returned to the city to be martyred.
He was sentenced to be crucified on Vatican Hill, a hill located across the Tiber River from the seven hills of Rome that make up the early city.  Feeling unworthy to be killed the same way as the Lord, he requested and was granted the unusual martyrdom of being crucified with his head down.  He was buried in Vatican Hill which years later became the location of St. Peter’s Basilica, the most famous church in the world.  The original basilica was built by Emperor Constantine I in the Fourth Century.  The current basilica was built between 1506 and 1626.
In the 1950s, an excavation under the altar of St. Peter’s revealed human bones.  In the following decade the bones were examined and were found to be of a male around the age of 60 from the First Century.