Word to the Wise
Friday, January 20, 2023 - 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]
Every time we recite the NIcene or Apostles' Creed we profess our faith in an "apostolic" Church. The stories of Jesus' selection of the twelve apostles individually can make for inspiring reading, but the evangelist does have an agenda. Jesus is becoming popular and crowd control is becoming a problem. Also, he is just one guy and can't be everywhere, so he delegates some of his ministry to trusted associates (yes, even Judas Iscariot!). This much is practical and makes sense. But there is also a theological agenda. The actual appointment takes place on a mountain and there are twelve appointees. The reference is clearly to Moses' meeting with God on Mt. Sinai and God's choice of the twelve tribes of Israel as the chosen people. The early church saw itself as a "new Israel." The list places Simon (renamed Peter) first, reflecting the early faith in him as the leader of the church.
The evangelist gives two reasons for Jesus' action. He needs the Twelve to "be with him and that he might send them forth to preach and to have authority to drive out demons." The very word "apostle," is taken from the Greek verb meaning "to send forth." The apostles' mission begins from closeness to Jesus but also fidelity to his teaching. They are not to hoard their relationship but to share in the mission to preach the Good News.
Two thousand years later we are continuing that mission. Although the bishops stand in "succession" to the apostles, they are not the only believers! Like all of us they began life as "lay persons," and were summoned by the church to the ministry of leadership. All of us by virtue of our baptism are called to be, as Pope Francis puts it, "missionary disciples." We do not have to be a bishop or priest to do this. Like the original Twelve, we are called "to be with Jesus" and then to preach and "drive out demons" according to our own gifts and charisms (as St. Paul makes clear in his letters). Awareness that being close to Jesus carries a missionary responsibility with it can be intimidating but, as the popular expression puts it, "It is what it is!" and the future of Christianity depends on that awareness. AMEN