Deacon Michael Bartholomew

When Michael Bartholomew was born two months early, weighing less than three pounds and with hydrocephalus (a buildup of fluid on the brain), he was quickly baptized because no one was sure he would live. But that’s when he showed the first signs of the perseverance and endurance that would later make him a nationally ranked distance race walker.

Today, the 28-year-old is ready to embark on the next leg of his journey when he is ordained to the diocesan priesthood on June 13. “The reality is we’re all journeying toward God,” he said. “We are given gifts to be able to walk that mile.”

Born and raised in Levittown, Deacon Bartholomew attended St. Bernard’s elementary school there and St. Anthony’s High School, South Huntington. His mother Fran, a foreign language teacher, loved to travel and by the time he was 24 he had been to more than 20 countries. A visit to Russia in 1997 cemented his decision to study international business, which he did at the University of Scranton with a minor in Spanish and a Latin American studies concentration.

At St. Anthony’s, he was inspired by the Franciscan brothers to consider a religious vocation. High school was also where he first ran track and learned that distance events enabled him to make up what he might lack in talent with perseverance and hard work. At a track meet, he saw the race walk event where competitors complete laps totaling up to 50 kilometers (31 miles) while following strict technique rules, like not bending the knees until a certain point.
He later trained with a member of the U.S. Olympic race walking team and, when he competed in his first 50 K race in 5 hours, 46 minutes and 12 seconds, he was ranked 12th in the United States. It wasn’t fast enough to qualify for the Olympics, but a coach told him “you are the future of race walking.”
This fueled an Olympic dream for him and began a period of intense training. But when the shunt that allows the fluid to drain from his skull failed and he needed surgery, it set back his training and he didn’t qualify for the Olympics.
Although he was disappointed, he said that “getting disqualified put things in perspective for me.”

During college he had continued to go on retreats and meet regularly with the Franciscan vocation director, Brother James McVeigh, who is now diocesan co-vicar for religious.

After graduation, he went into the work force, first as an assistant cross-country coach at SUNY Farmingdale, then as an endoscopic technician responsible for video-imaging equipment at several hospitals.

“As I went to different Masses, culminating at a Christmas Eve at St. Anthony’s with Father Brian Barr, I could see myself being called to the priesthood.”
“I’ll be honest. I really didn’t want it,” he said. “But I felt like there was nothing else I could do. I had to go, at least try this.”

He said he entered the seminary hoping to get a sign that it wasn’t where he belonged, but “as I moved along, I felt it was where God wanted me and eventually I came to realize I wanted to do this as well.”

Ironically, when he entered the seminary and stopped focusing on the Olympics, he dropped over 14 minutes from his race time and was seventh in the country. In 2006, he was ranked sixth. In 2007, he didn’t race in the nationals because he was on a trip to the Holy Land. “I have my priorities now,” he said. He won bronze medals at the Empire State games that year.

Would he still like to make the Olympic team? “It would be nice, but it is not the end-all and be-all it used to be,” he said.

Race walking has given him tremendous opportunities, he said, noting he has made friends all over the world. “I view it as kind of an evangelical tool at this point,” he said, because he meets so many people and because the sport is well-known in the Spanish-speaking countries where many of Long Island’s immigrants come from. “It gives me that bond” with people he meets in his ministry here.

Once he made up his mind for the priesthood, he said he was blessed to receive a great deal of support. “My parents put no pressure on me.”

“He’s been called,” said his mother. “When I look back on his life, he spent three months in the hospital and there were so many prayers said for him. He was prayed over by many prayer groups, including St. Bernard’s.”

Her husband, also named Michael, said the early health issues enforced the idea that his son was “God’s child, just on loan to us. He’s here to do God’s work.”
“I give him so much credit for recognizing and being able to do what God’s asking,” added the proud father. “I think he’ll make an outstanding priest.”
Deacon Bartholomew also credited the support of St. Bernard’s pastor, Father Gerard Ringenback, and his classmates at the seminary. “We’ve grown together. Each of us would do anything to help the other.”

During his pastoral year at Our Holy Redeemer, Freeport, he “shared in the wisdom of two pastors,” Father Nicholas Figliola and then-Msgr. Robert Guglielmone, who resided at the parish while serving as diocesan director of clergy personnel. Bishop Guglielmone was recently named bishop of Charleston and selected as his motto “Walk humbly with your God,” from the same passage from Micah that Deacon Bartholomew will have printed on his holy card at ordination.

“God only asks that we do justice, love tenderly and walk humbly ... how important those things are,” he said. “We need to have compassion while walking with the Lord. Ironically, walking is a very biblical image and it’s very much part of who I am.”

“All I want to do is help people strengthen their relationship with God,” Deacon Bartholomew said. “I always knew that God would bring me down a road where I’d be happy and I am very happy.”