Those Called

And he went up on the mountain, and called to him those whom he desired; and they came to him. And he appointed twelve, to be with him, and to be sent out to preach and have authority to cast out demons: Simon whom he surnamed Peter; James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, whom he surnamed Boanerges, that is, sons of thunder; Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

Then he went home; Mark 3:13–19 (RSV)

When St. Mark wrote his Gospel, the first of the four, most of the Twelve Jesus had chosen as His disciples were still alive and known in the Church. They were real flesh and blood people with families, personal histories, and personalities.

It is hard for us to see them as ordinary people. They are noble images in the pages of Scripture or an altar painting. We imagine them as a cut above us, super Christians who had the privilege of following Jesus in His earthly ministry.

Since we have set them on a higher plane than ourselves, we excuse ourselves from the commission Jesus gave to them. The only real difference between ourselves and the Twelve is twenty-one centuries. Jesus chose ordinary folk to be His disciples. The gifts for the ministry He gave to them we have received.

The Holy Spirit poured out on them on Pentecost is given to us as we are baptized. The Gospel they proclaimed has not changed and still needs our voices to make it known in our age.

We may not have our names enshrined in the pages of the Church's history, but the call to share the Good News is now ours to make known. When we have gone from this life, it will be the call of others to take up. So it shall be until our Lord returns.