Word to the Wise
Friday, January 23, 2015 - Friday in the 2nd Week in Ordinary Time
[Heb 8:6-13 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]
When Jesus (like Moses) goes up on a mountain, we know something important is about to happen, e.g., the Sermon on the Mount or the Transfiguration. In today's gospel scripture he chooses his closest associates in ministry and he calls them "Apostles," which, in Greek, means someone who is "sent." We are told also what he specifically wants them to do: to preach and to drive out demons. In doing this, he was not particularly different from other prominent teachers who had their own disciples. However, the number is significant: twelve. The New American Bible translation makes sure we see this by using a capital "T"." The reference is to the original twelve tribes of Israel. Jesus has a kind of "new Israel" in mind.
With such a great goal one cannot but wonder about the choices Jesus makes. Peter is impulsive, John and James are ambitious, Matthew (Levi) is a tax collector (definitely "unclean"), Simon is close to being what we might call a "terrorist" nowadays, Thomas is a skeptic and Judas Iscariot becomes an embezzler and traitor. One gets to wondering what the rejected candidates were like! Nevertheless, the old saying, "God writes straight with crooked lines" seems to have been in full force and the rest is history and God's providence. Pope Francis reminds us that the church is not a society for the elite and spiritually pure but a "field hospital" for the wounded sinner. The Apostles were not ust members of the team, they were also patients! We need to remember that, especially those of us in full time ministry but everyone else who has been baptized and made a member of the Body of Christ. AMEN