Word to the Wise
Friday, January 22, 2016 - Friday in the 2nd Week in Ordinary Time
[1 Sam 24:3-21 and Mark 3:13-19]Jesus went up the mountain and summoned those whom he wanted and they came to him. He appointed Twelve, whom he also named Apostles, that they might be with him and he might send them forth to preach and to have authority to drive out demons. [Mark]
The importance of the moment in today's gospel scripture is immediately announced by the fact that Jesus "went up the mountain." In the Bible, really important things take place in high places. The "Twelve" (capitalizing the "T" is a decision made by the Church) are a truly interesting crew. Peter is impulsive and would deny Jesus. James and John try to secure places of importance in the "kingdom." Thomas is a chronic skeptic. Simon the Cananean is a zealot (might be called a terrorist in our time). Judas Iscariot would betray him. It will remain a mystery on earth why Jesus chose the men he chose. They were obviously from among his disciples. We will never know why he chose Peter to be the leader. Nor will we know why he chose Judas Iscariot. Human resources management is ever a challenging field!
Each Sunday the congregations of Catholics gathered around the world makes a Profession of Faith. In the USA we use either the Nicene Creed or the Apostles' Creed. In both of those we refer to the Church as "one, holy, catholic and apostolic." In other contexts, we refer to the Church as "founded on the apostles," and to our bishops as "successors to the apostles." Jesus' choices may be mysterious to us, and the choices made for bishops even today may be mysterious to us, but our Church remains apostolic, and this is one of the most important "continuities" in our faith. AMEN
[On this Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children, we are asked to pray for all who somehow become involved in the tragedy of elective abortion, especially for the children who are the principal victims.]
config
view
logs
3840.0 KB
155 ms
4
