Jesus went up the mountain and summoned those whom he wanted and they came to him.
This short sentence summarizes the meaning of the calling: Jesus calls whomever he wants and the summoned one comes to him. So, it was with the apostles. It is the same with every authentic disciple of Jesus. A vocation is a life that grows out of the dialogue between the One Who Calls and the one who is summoned. The first to be called in history was Abraham, who became the father of believers. Later, Moses, and through him, the entire chosen people, who had to learn for many years to read God's call and understand that it brings the fullness of life not according to human imaginations, but on a completely different measure. As the Jews looked at God's call according to their own criteria, they continually fell in search of something "better" for themselves. Their expectations kept God outside of their hearts. The condition was the fulfillment of the provisions of the Law. But the prophets saw well that this is not the essence of the Sinai covenant. Brought to the legal system, it did not give life. There was a need for a "new covenant," a covenant of the Spirit in opposed to a letter of the law covenant.
God has offered us in Jesus Christ the "better covenant". But it only becomes active in us when we hear His personal call and follow him, when we allow ourselves to write it on our hearts.
PEOPLE WHO WERE READY TO LEARN.
“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.”
When we read the names of these Apostles, we are amazed that these people do not give the impression that they constitute a group of irreplaceable "experts." None of them had a leadership position in the synagogue, nor belonged to the circle of Levites or priests. Most of them are simple workers who finished school at the synagogue. They had no equivalent of today's academic degrees in the arts or philosophy. Most of them grew up in Galilee. Only Judas Iscariot was the only one of the twelve who come from a more prominent town. The question is, will Jesus ever be able to use them for anything at all? They were impulsive, uncontrollable, subject to moods, laden with all the prejudices of their own environment. They were the average picture of that society. These were not personalities who could be expected to win the world for Christ. Yet it was in these ordinary people that Jesus saw material for leaders of his Kingdom. In the opinion of the world, they were in fact "unlearned and simple people" (Acts 4:33).
But there was one thing in them - they allowed themselves to be taught. Although they made a whole lot of mistakes in their thinking and very slowly began to understand spiritual truths, they were sincere and ready to acknowledge their basic shortcomings and accept the teachings.
They had open hearts. Perhaps the most noteworthy was their honest desire for God and their true search for the reality of His life. The superficial religiosity around them could not destroy their hope for the Messiah (John 1:41, 45, 49; 6:69). In such people, open to educational influence, the Master could form the image of the new man.
He instituted the Twelve. This is an ordination of the apostles, possibly by laying on hands upon them according to Jewish custom. This calling had a specific purpose - to proclaim the Gospel. Not to take a position in the church, but to find lost sheep, keep them close to the Shepherd, and protect them from false teachers. To accomplish these tasks, Christ gave them power and authority over demons. They were supposed to fight the forces of darkness. They were to free people from Satan's clutches and bring them to Christ. Christ calls his disciples and enables them to perform the assigned task. If Christ is calling you, He will also give you the spiritual gifts necessary to complete your assigned task.
Christ saw harassed and abandoned people wandering like sheep without a shepherd. To save them from eternal damnation, he chose a group of ordinary people like you and me. He stayed with them and gave them all that he had received from the Father. He gave them power and authority over the spirits of darkness, and then sent them, saying: As the Father has sent me, so am I sending you. Is it your heart's desire to be chosen and sent by Christ the Lord? Are you ready to learn from your Master?
Christ the Lord before his death prayed this prayer for them and for me: “I glorified you on earth by accomplishing the work that you gave me to do. I revealed your name to those whom you gave me out of the world. They belonged to you, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you gave me is from you, because the words you gave to me, I have given to them, and they accepted them and truly understood that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for the ones you have given me, because they are yours, and everything of mine is yours and everything of yours is mine, and I have been glorified in them. And now I will no longer be in the world, but they are in the world, while I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are.” (Jn 17: 4- 11)
Until Tomorrow
fr. george