The Twelve Apostles

Friday, ‍
January 24, 2020
2nd Week in ‍
Ordinary Time
1st Reading: ‍
1Sam 24: 3-21
Gospel: Mark 3:13-19•JESUS went up into the hill country and called those he wanted and they came to him. So he appointed twelve to be with him; and he called them apostles. He wanted to send them out to preach, and he gave them authority to drive out demons.
These are the Twelve: Simon, to whom he gave the name Peter; James, son of Zebedee, and John his brother, to whom he gave the name Boanerges, which means “men of thunder”; Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alpheus, Thaddeus, Simon the Cananean and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him.
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)
A Catholic priest, an Anglican minister and a Baptist preacher were standing near a river arguing about religions. The priest said, “We are the authentic Church because we descended directly from the Apostles with Peter as first pope”. He then said, “I can prove my point by walking on the water”. Then he proceeded to walk on the water to the other side. The Anglican minister likewise walked on the water and got to the other side to prove the authenticity of his church. When the Baptist preacher stepped on the water to prove his point he sank knee deep into the river. The Catholic Priest whispered to the Anglican minister, “Should tell him where the rocks are?”
Let’s get to something more serious about rocks now. The Bible tells us that Jesus built his Church on a rock. He began by choosing twelve men as core members. The enumeration in today’s Gospel reading begins with Peter and ends with Judas. The placement of their names reminds us of their reputation: Peter was the acknowledged leader while Judas was the known traitor. Both however betrayed Jesus in the end.
Judas was too desperate to ask for forgiveness. But his despair could not exculpate him because such stemmed from his lack of faith in a God whose capacity to forgive was bigger than his capacity to commit treachery.
Peter was in the dark when he betrayed Jesus. But Peter’s emotional state could not absolve him because the rooster was there to refresh his mind about his conversation with Jesus when his betrayal was foretold. The crowing of the rooster should have restored him to the same alacrity with which he promised Jesus never to betray him. The bottom line is: both were weak. This, Jesus knew even before he chose them.
Jesus’ choice of weak people to compose the core of a Church designed to last was Jesus’ way of committing his person to the supervision of his Church. True enough he said before he ascended to heaven: “I will be with you until the end of time” (Matthew 28:20). – (Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., J.D., D.M.