Friday in the Second Week of Ordinary Time, January 19, 2024

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: He appointed the Twelve: Simon, whom he named Peter; James, son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James, whom he named Boanerges, that is, sons of thunder; Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus; Thaddeus, Simon the Cananean, and Judas Iscariot who betrayed him.

The choosing of the Twelve Apostles marks a new phase in the Lord’s Public Life, for now he has a movement.  Through the Apostles he establishes the foundation of the structure that he will call his Church, to be led by the Apostle Peter.  His various disciples will continue to follow him through Galilee and Judea seasonally or periodically as they are able according to their responsibilities at home, but the Apostles will stay with him always.  After the Lord’s Ascension into heaven they will continue to teach these disciples who will then be able to go out and preach the Gospel themselves.

“Jesus went up the mountain and summoned those whom he wanted and they came to him.”  We notice that Jesus “summons” the men whom he had chosen.  The picture Mark gives is of Jesus along on a mountain (actually, the equivalent of a foothill in the western U.S.) and calling out the names of the men he has chosen, calling them up to him.  The Greek text tells us that they “departed” to him, that is, they left behind their previous lives in order to take up entirely new lives.  They go willingly, and make their way up the rugged hill.  

“He appointed Twelve, whom he also named Apostles.”  Particular numbers had much significance to the ancient peoples.  The number “7” for the Jews meant the number of days in which God created the world plus the Sabbath.  They also understood the number “12” as the number of the sons of Jacob and the number of the tribes of Israel.  The Fathers concluded that this number signified the Ten Commandments plus to the Great Commandments of the Lord, to love God with all one’s being, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself.  For the Fathers, this number, applied to the Apostles, signified the whole Law of the Church and that the Church taught the whole Law given by God to man.  The original Gentile Christian readers of the Gospel of Mark would have thought of the twelve tribes, but also of the twelve Greek gods who were said to dwell on Mount Olympus: the number signified power.  And indeed, Jesus gave the Apostles power: “That they might be with him and he might send them forth to preach and to have authority to drive out demons.”  We see the Apostles attempting to exorcise (cf. Matthew 17, 15) though not always with success due to lack of experience.

These Apostles have three purposes, then: to be with Jesus, to go forth and preach at his command, and to cast out demons.  The were to abide with him to learn his teachings and to conform themselves to his life; they were to preach the Gospel he taught them at his direction; they were to cast out the demons who were sorely besetting the human race.  They were to become extensions of the Lord.  The Holy Church has continued in these works throughout the centuries: being with Jesus through prayer, worship, and the study of his words; through preaching the Gospel to all nations through trained missionaries as well as through his faithful followers in the world; and casting out demons through the ministry of exorcism and through the improvement to society which devout Catholics bring.

St. Paul’s Epistles concern themselves very much with teaching and reassuring his converts that they are not lonely individuals out in the wilds of this world but are very intimately connected with one another in the universal Church by grace.  As members of the Church founded by the Lord Jesus upon the Apostles we are also certain that we receive his teachings as to what to do and believe in order to be saved.  And, belonging to the Holy Church we receive the Sacraments instituted by the Lord, especially himself in the Holy Eucharist, so that we might have life.