Thursday January 21st: The lakeside gives life
January 18, 2021
Saturday January 23rd: God’s will, conflict, family
January 18, 2021

Friday January 22nd: Building on the Apostolic Foundation

“And so he appointed twelve; they were to be his companions and to be sent out to proclaim the message.”

Mark 3: 13 – 19.

Today’s Gospel passage gives us the names of the twelve whom Jesus called apostles. What do we do with a list of names? It sounds as though we are taking an inventory of personnel to whom we can hand out assignments. But this list is special. They are apostles. They will remain in our religious psyche forever. We will continue to build on them.

We speak of having an apostolic foundation. That means these twelve men have been presented to us by Jesus as models and guides. That should not be strange to us. We use our family tree in the same way. Who does not try to imitate a deceased outstanding relative?

These apostles shared the very authority of Jesus. They were not just a list of names, they did the things Jesus did. We who follow them also have the same authority and mission. We always want to be like our ancestors. Likewise, we must also want to be like the apostles.