The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today connect our growing understanding of an emerging Church led by the Holy Spirit to calling of the Apostles to their mission by Jesus.
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| Capstone in changing Church |
The passage from the Letter to the Ephesians outlines our place as One in Christ.
* [2:15] One new person: a corporate body, the Christian community, made up of Jews and Gentiles, replacing ancient divisions; cf. Rom 1:16.* [2:20] Capstone: the Greek can also mean cornerstone or keystone.1
Psalm 19 declares the regular functioning of the heavens informs human beings of the creator’s power and wisdom.
* [19:4] No speech, no words: the regular functioning of the heavens and the alternation of day and night inform human beings without words of the creator’s power and wisdom.2
The mission of the Twelve, called by Jesus, is ministering to a great multitude in the Gospel of Luke.
* [6:13] He chose Twelve: the identification of this group as the Twelve is a part of early Christian tradition (see 1 Cor 15:5), and in Matthew and Luke, the Twelve are associated with the twelve tribes of Israel (Lk 22:29–30; Mt 19:28). After the fall of Judas from his position among the Twelve, the need is felt on the part of the early community to reconstitute this group before the Christian mission begins at Pentecost (Acts 1:15–26). From Luke’s perspective, they are an important group who because of their association with Jesus from the time of his baptism to his ascension (Acts 1:21–22) provide the continuity between the historical Jesus and the church of Luke’s day and who as the original eyewitnesses guarantee the fidelity of the church’s beliefs and practices to the teachings of Jesus (Lk 1:1–4). Whom he also named apostles: only Luke among the gospel writers attributes to Jesus the bestowal of the name apostles upon the Twelve. See note on Mt 10:2–4. “Apostle” becomes a technical term in early Christianity for a missionary sent out to preach the word of God. Although Luke seems to want to restrict the title to the Twelve (only in Acts 4:4, 14 are Paul and Barnabas termed apostles), other places in the New Testament show an awareness that the term was more widely applied (1 Cor 15:5–7; Gal 1:19; 1 Cor 1:1; 9:1; Rom 16:7).3
Eileen Burke-Sullivan comments on the bond of intense faith that emerges from the outpouring of God’s Spirit on those that Jesus chose to become missionaries to the ends of the earth. They announce to us that such witnessing is essential even to our own deaths.
Through the readings chosen the Church focuses on God’s call to those most needed to build up the Church and announce the Good News. One need not be a history maker – a pope, a king or a brilliant teacher to be an intimate friend of Jesus. In fact, these men were practically unknown. What comes down the centuries to us, however, is that they served as authentic witnesses to God’s Mercy in word and deed. These men faced the impossible task of telling the Good News to the ends of the earth. They did so with confidence that any task from God it is not only possible but will be done if we but reject our false modesty and our fear and get about it.4
Don Schwager quotes “Jesus chose fishermen and tax collectors to be apostles,” by Ambrose of Milan, 339-397 A.D.
"It says, 'He called his disciples, and he chose twelve of them,' whom he appointed sowers of the faith, to spread the help of human salvation throughout the world. At the same time, observe the heavenly counsel. He chose not wise men, nor rich men, nor nobles, but fishermen and tax collectors, whom he would direct, lest they seem to have seduced some by wisdom, or bought them with riches, or attracted them to their own grace with the authority of power and nobility. He did this so that the reasoning of truth, not the grace of disputation, should prevail." (excerpt from EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 5.44)5
The Word Among Us Meditation on Ephesians 2:19-22 considers that the divisions that existed among the Jews and Gentiles could have applied to these saints too. Jesus chose them, along with the rest of the Twelve, from a variety of backgrounds: Matthew, a tax collector; Simon, a Zealot who hated tax collectors; some fishermen; and others with their own personalities we don’t know much about. You would be hard-pressed to find a more unlikely group! But as they followed Jesus, their love for him—and his love for them—brought them together.
The answer to divisions, whether big or small, is Jesus. It’s simple but true. If his love can break down the barrier between Jews and Gentiles, between a tax collector and a Zealot, it can do the same for us today.
Do you sense a barrier or some tension with someone in your parish who is very different from you? Commit it to Jesus. He can open your heart and help you to recognize that person’s inherent goodness and value. He may even show you whether you are being judgmental or envious, or prompt you to change your tone of voice when speaking to that person.6
Friar Jude Winkler discusses the proclamation of Paul to the Ephesian community that the barrier between Jews and Gentiles is removed. In Luke, Jesus prayer signals obedience to the will of the Father. Friar Jude reminds that Jesus knowing choice of a traitor may be part of the greater plan of God to bring about a greater good.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, identifies, in the emerging Church, some significant changes. They are causing sea changes in modern theology as well as practice. These shifts may be the very reason we are currently so divided as Christians, with some clinging to an older way of doing and thinking while others are pulling in these new and “emerging” directions.
Our awareness is broadening, recognizing that Jesus was clearly teaching nonviolence… There is a common-sense and growing recognition that Jesus was clearly concerned about the specific healing and transformation of real persons and human society “on earth as it is in heaven...” We are recovering the older and essential contemplative tradition within Christianity, starting with Thomas Merton in the 1950s… We now see the liberal/conservative divide as a bogus and finally unhelpful framing of the issues.7
From the mystery of selection of the Twelve to our struggles with change in the Church, we are wise to contemplate the action of the Spirit in directing the mission of Jesus disciples.
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