"Then JESUS went up into the hill country, and called those HE wanted, and they came to HIM. 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." - Mark 3:13-19
(It was on the mountain that Moses and Elijah met GOD: it was there that GOD gave them their mission [Exodus 19; 1 Kings 19]. It is on the mountain that JESUS calls those who will be in a special way associated with HIS own mission: they will be with HIM, they will proclaim the word and drive out demons.
Mark tells us here what the Church is: a community assembled by JESUS close to HIM, where people hear the word of GOD and are freed from the slavery of the demon.
On the one hand are the countless afflicted who seek relief, and on the other the group of the Twelve whom JESUS asks to be HIS co-builders in the kingdom of GOD.
What do we know of these Twelve who would become JESUS' messengers, the foundations of the Church, the teachers of the faith? The nucleus of the group were fishermen and with them a tax collector, Matthew; a teacher of the law, Bartholomew; and some others of whom we only know that JESUS chose them from among the people.
HE came in order to save all, but HIS work began with the poor. JESUS did not belong more to the poor than to the rich, but like all humans HE had to locate HIMSELF within a specific environment and social class.
Being a son of an artisan, HE grew up among simple, humble people. In addition, JESUS made an important decision when HE was eighteen or twenty years old. HE chose to remain a manual worker rather than to enter a school for teachers of the law. These religious schools were open to all.
JESUS could have began HIS preaching as a qualified teacher and would certainly have found HIS helpers among the sincere teachers of the law, priests or Pharisees. But no, HE preferred to educate HIMSELF through the worker's life with no other religious instruction than the teachings of the synagogue, with no other book than the book of life. Because of this, when the time came, HE found HIS apostles among the common people, young men who were simple but reliable people.)
No comments:
Post a Comment