Friday January 22

Second Week In Ordinary Time

 

Jesus Chose His Apostles

 

Introduction

The worship of the old regime of the Law was insufficient, for it had to be replaced. It had only led on the part of the people to legalistic observance. But now comes the new covenant, written in peoples’ hearts, with Jesus as the mediator. There Jesus will speak from the heart: “I came to do your will.”

Jesus summons those he wants to work with him. The Twelve, reminding us of the twelve tribes of Israel, were to be the leaders, his intimate companions, and they were to be the foundations, the pillars of his Church, except for Judas, the traitor. Today he summons us all, but to some he gives special tasks in his Church. Yet we all have the task of building up the Church.

 

Opening Prayer

Lord God our Father,
you let your Son Jesus associate with him helpers

to carrying out his work
of bringing about a new world and a new humanity.
We thank you for the men and the women
you choose in the sacred history of your people
to guide and lead and inspire us.
We too wish to cooperate today
toward this new world, and so we ask:
Make us close companions of Jesus,
inspire us through your Spirit
to cooperate with those who shepherd us,
and lead us to your future of joy.
Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Reading 1: Heb 8:6-13

Brothers and sisters:
Now our high priest has obtained so much more excellent a ministry
as he is mediator of a better covenant,
enacted on better promises.

For if that first covenant had been faultless,
no place would have been sought for a second one.
But he finds fault with them and says:
Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord,
when I will conclude a new covenant with the house of
Israel and the house of Judah.
It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers
the day I took them by the hand to lead
them forth from the land of Egypt;
for they did not stand by my covenant
and I ignored them, says the Lord.
But this is the covenant I will establish with the house of Israel
after those days, says the Lord:
I will put my laws in their minds
and I will write them upon their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they shall be my people.
And they shall not teach, each one his fellow citizen and kin, saying,
“Know the Lord,”
for all shall know me, from least to greatest.
For I will forgive their evildoing
and remember their sins no more.

When he speaks of a “new” covenant,
he declares the first one obsolete.
And what has become obsolete
and has grown old is close to disappearing.

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 85:8 and 10, 11-12, 13-14

(11a)Kindness and truth shall meet.
Show us, O LORD, your mercy,
and grant us your salvation.
Near indeed is his salvation to those who fear him,
glory dwelling in our land.
R.Kindness and truth shall meet.
Kindness and truth shall meet;
justice and peace shall kiss.
Truth shall spring out of the earth,
and justice shall look down from heaven.
R. Kindness and truth shall meet.
The LORD himself will give his benefits;
our land shall yield its increase.
Justice shall walk before him,
and salvation, along the way of his steps.
R. Kindness and truth shall meet.

Alleluia

Alleluia, alleluia.

God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ,
and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.
R.Alleluia, alleluia.

 

Gospel: Mk 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.

 

Intercessions

–   That the pope, Peter’s successor, may be our rock of faith, our model of healing and mercy, and thus the sign of unity in the Church, we pray:

–   That our apostles today, our bishops, may exercise their authority as a service for community building, we pray:

–   That missionaries may discover all the good there is in the hearts and minds of people and their culture, to heal, ennoble and perfect them in Christ, we pray:

 

Prayer over the Gifts

God, our shepherd,
with bread and wine we celebrate
that your people are the body of Christ
which you wish to nourish
with the body and blood of your Son.
Sanctify us and accept our offering
which we join to that of your Son,
Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

Prayer after Communion

Father,
with your whole Church we give you thanks
for entrusting to us the good news of Christ
and strengthening us with his body.
May the whole People of God,
which you have called to life
spread the good news of Jesus,
and give you all praise and glory
for all the love you have shown us,
in Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

Blessing

In his lifetime, Jesus chose the twelve apostles. All along history he continued to choose many to do his work. His work has to continue, and today he calls many to be our leaders and guides. May we fully cooperate with them, with the blessing of almighty God, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

 

Commentary

Get up, get closer to HIM

God wants us on his side, and that is why he calls us, so that we may be with him. So that we may be his own. The Gospel today presents us with the call of the Disciples, on the mountain. Jesus calls those he wants. They were not the smartest, not the most influential, and certainly not the most knowledgeable people of the society. But he chose the most ordinary ones. He wanted them to be with him and to send out.

To be a disciple of Jesus is to be with him on the holy mountain of prayer and meditation of his Word. But neither he nor the apostles stayed forever on the mountain; they “went out” to the whole world. Every disciple is called not only to be with him but to go out to others. St Catherine of Siena said “Prayer and action are like our two feet: we need them both to be a disciple of Jesus”.

The gospel accounts of the call of the apostles always puzzles me. Jesus spent time in prayer on the mountain before choosing the 12. That was an extraordinary selection process which defied all worldly norms for an enterprise to begin with. But we have the excuse that it is Jesus, the Son of God, who after a night-long prayer chooses his men and therefore, he knew their potential. But then, how come Judas Iscariot also got selected? Was he a wrong choice? A theologian, once replied, “I don’t know, but I have an even harder question: Why did Jesus choose me?”

We have perhaps been too ready to write off Judas. But if Judas is a complete write-off, then so are we! There was one tragic mistake that he made… that was to walk away from the Lord. The reason for Jesus to choose his disciples was that they would remain with him, but at one point Judas chose to walk away.

Whenever we hear the list of those chosen by Christ, we can do the exercise of adding our name to that list. Feel his loving gaze stop on me, feel being captivated by his smile, and hear how He calls us. Get up, get closer to Him, and sit close, to see Him better, to hear Him better, to love Him better.