We All Have Roles To Play

𝐎𝐂𝐓. 𝟐𝟖, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐅𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐒𝐓𝐒. 𝐒𝐈𝐌𝐎𝐍 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐉𝐔𝐃𝐄, 𝐀𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐬

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝟏: 𝐄𝐩𝐡 𝟐:𝟏𝟗-𝟐𝟐

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐒𝐀 𝟏𝟗: 𝟐-𝟓 “𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐋𝐊 𝟔:𝟏𝟐-𝟏𝟔

𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆: “𝑶𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒚𝒔, 𝑱𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒂 𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝑮𝒐𝒅.” (𝒗.12) 

         As we read in the Gospel narratives, we know that Jesus had many disciples. Some accounts point to 72 disciples whom he sent out in pairs ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go (𝐋𝐤 𝟏𝟎:𝟏).        

         Out of this number, Jesus chose twelve who would be his Apostles and who were meant to be the inner circle or the core of his ministry. While all the disciples were learners, the Apostles received special training because these twelve were to become the foundation of the Catholic Church.

         There are, however, two very significant points in this Gospel passage for today which is also the Feast Day of Saints Simon and Jude. These are found on 𝐯𝐯.𝟏𝟐-𝟏𝟑 which says: “𝑶𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝑱𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒂 𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝑮𝒐𝒅. 𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆, 𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒊𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒗𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎, 𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒎 𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒔 𝑨𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒕𝒍𝒆𝒔.”        

         This shows that prayer has become second nature to Jesus and as we will read in the Gospels, Jesus prays in the morning, but he always caps the day with prayer most oftentimes in a solitary place which provides him the environment to commune with the Father.

         Here in this Gospel, Jesus was again in prayer, and it was only after praying that he called his disciples to choose the twelve Apostles. In 𝑴𝒌 6:7, we read: “𝑪𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒊𝒎, 𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒘𝒐 𝒃𝒚 𝒕𝒘𝒐 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒈𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒍 𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒔.”

         This only shows that Jesus prays for guidance in every major decision he was about to make such as choosing the twelve from among the 72 disciples who journey with him. And this was not an ordinary task because Jesus has to consider how not to offend those who will not be chosen to be his Apostles and there was no account of grumbling nor complaining from those who were not named as Apostles.

         Does this scenario remind us of something? Can we find some parallelism between the choosing of the twelve Apostles with the way we choose our leaders either in the church ministries or in the community. It has been my experience that choosing leaders, coordinators and or shepherds to ministries and apostolates has become so complicated if not contentious and it becomes so when we base our decisions on human judgment rather than through prayer.

         Jesus chose ordinary men. The twelve who were chosen were not professionals and are not known for their wealth or position in the cities where they came from. Matthew was a tax collector who was despised by the people. Simon was a zealot, a radical group sworn to assassinate every traitor and or Roman whenever possible. To have Matthew and Simon stand side by side was a miracle.

         And today, Jesus still calls ordinary men and women with a mixture of backgrounds and personalities to keep on building the church that he first established through Simon who was given the name Peter to symbolize the rock (Petros) who was given the task to build the church.

         We too are being called although many times, men refuse to heed the call because they feel they have nothing to offer or are incapable of serving in the church. What we oftentimes forget is that when we are called, God himself will equip and empower us through the promptings of the Holy Spirit. The only thing that we need to do is respond to the calling with obedience and humility.

         The twelve Apostles come from different backgrounds and so are we. Some of those who are serving the Church now or render service in a community are lawyers, doctors, engineers, accountants, teachers while others are housewives and ordinary men and women who answered the call.

         What we at times forget is that Our Lord Jesus Christ can transform the ordinariness of our lives and can use us an instrument for greatness in his kingdom, but this is dependent on the degree of our obedience to the Word of God. What we must always remember is that we who are now serving in the Church or Community are not called for what we are but for what we can become, especially if we allow the Holy Spirit to take full control of our lives.

         Titles, achievements, fame and fortune have no value in his kingdom. Let it not be said, however, that what we have accomplished in our temporal lives are also a gift from God and we also have to savor them but these only become valuable in the eyes of God if these gifts are used to give glory to God which means that our talents, skills, time and treasures must be used to build his kingdom on earth.

         The role played by the twelve Apostles also provides us with a lesson on our dispensability as servants regardless of how gifted or how talented we may be. At some point in time, we all have to hang up our gloves after we have done our part and never should be assume that the church or the community to which we belong cannot survive without us.

         This, however, is the problem with many church organizations and renewal communities where leaders could not detach from the prestige, power and authority related to the positions they held such that they will do everything to remain visible or afloat. Rather than fade into the sunset and or serve as an ordinary layman in a ministry or apostolate, most former leaders get into the habit of organizing separate ministries and or get themselves appointed into special committees.

        What we must bear in mind is that we all come and go. What is important is we should do our best when given the opportunity to serve and we should not even entertain the idea that the church will not survive without us.

        But unlike the Apostles who were martyred except for John, many former leaders whom we know of only want to enjoy the glory but not the pain and suffering that goes with serving in the Lord’s vineyard as many of those I know beg off from serving in assignments that will inconvenience them.  

         Two of those whom Jesus chose to be his Apostles were Simon and Jude. Not much were said about these two except for Simon who was identified as a zealot or someone whose ideology was so radical that their objective was to destroy the enemy of the Jewish nation.

         Jude, on the other hand, was known as the one who asked Jesus after the Last Supper why he chose to reveal himself only to his disciples. And Jude received this reply from Jesus: “𝑰𝒇 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒎𝒆, 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒃𝒆𝒚 𝒎𝒚 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈. 𝑴𝒚 𝑭𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒎, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒉𝒊𝒎.” (𝑱𝒏 14:22)        

         This then should inspire all those who are called and are being called to a life of service to his kingdom that we are assured of the presence of the Trinitarian God in our lives for as long as we keep the fire burning by loving God, listening to his Word and obeying his teaching. (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 - 𝘖𝘤𝘵. 28, 2025)