Word to the Wise
Friday, January 21, 2022 - 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]
JANUARY 21 ST. AGNES, virgin and martyr
When Jesus goes up a mountain, important things happen (just as they did when Moses went up a mountain.) This time Jesus decides to choose twelve out of his crowd of disciples. The number 12 is important because the early church envisioned itself as the "new Israel" which had been founded on the 12 tribes. The title "apostle" was and is important because the first witnesses to preach the resurrection were the apostles (from the Greek meaning someone who is "sent." Yes, yes, Mary Magdalen was ahead of them and is known as "the apostle to the apostles" but she was not one of the Twelve!
The group is a curious collection - a motley krewe! Peter is impulsive. Andrew, his brother, seems to be a kind of go-between person. James and John are ambitious. Thomas is a chronic skeptic. Matthew/Levi is a tax collector. And Judas Iscariot!!! How did he ever get chosen? The others, including the one who would replace Judas after the resurrection - Matthias - fade into various traditions about where they actually preached. Andrew seems to have been in Greece and Scotland! Thomas seems to have made it all the way to India. And Paul of Tarsus claimed to be equally an apostle with the Twelve!
What is important is our profession of faith in an "apostolic" Church. The person of the Pope and the bishops are a reminder of the apostolic authority that Jesus granted. It is this continuity in faith that sustains our world-wide preaching. Along with the Pope and bishops, we as baptized Christians inherit the challenge to preach the gospel and drive out demons. This was important enough to St. Agnes, whose feast day we celebrate today, to give her life as a witness. Is it that valuable to us? AMEN