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𝐒𝐄𝐏𝐓. 𝟗, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐌𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐀𝐋 𝐎𝐅 𝐒𝐓. 𝐂𝐋𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐑, 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬𝐭 

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝟏: 𝐂𝐨𝐥 𝟐:𝟔-𝟏𝟓

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟏𝟒𝟓:𝟏-𝟐, 𝟖-𝟏𝟏 “𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐋𝐊 𝟔:𝟏𝟐-𝟏𝟗

𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆: “𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒉 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒉𝒊𝒎” (𝒗.19) 

          The bio-data or what is known as resume’ has become an important piece of document that speaks of the person who is applying for a job even for the lowliest position in the corporate ladder. Conversely, no one gets employed nowadays without submitting his or her resume because your persona is reflected in that piece of paper that you send to prospective employers.

         That resume’ is your credential that guides employers when they try to find a match between your skills and qualifications with the job that is waiting to be filled up in the company. That is how it is today. But how about in the olden times especially in the time of Jesus?

          If the 12 Apostles – 𝘚𝘪𝘮𝘰𝘯, 𝘈𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘸, 𝘑𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴, 𝘑𝘰𝘩𝘯, 𝘗𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱, 𝘉𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘸, 𝘔𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘸, 𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘴, 𝘑𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴 (𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘈𝘭𝘱𝘩𝘢𝘦𝘶𝘴), 𝘚𝘪𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘡𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘵, 𝘑𝘶𝘥𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘑𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘑𝘶𝘥𝘢𝘴 𝘐𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘵 were to go to Jesus lugging an envelope with their resume’ inside do you think Our Lord will take the risk in choosing these 12 men on whose shoulders lay the future of the church that Jesus was to establish?

          I don’t think so. Because if this happened today, those 12 would have been politely dismissed with the customary “we’ll give you a call.” And if ever there was anyone among them who stood a chance of getting hired it was probably Levi who became Matthew and Judas Iscariot because they probably had the best resume of the 12 and this was also the reason why Matthew was designated as the record-keeper of 𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘶𝘳 and Judas as treasurer of the group.

          Let’s take a look at the 12 men whom Jesus called: Simon, Andrew (Simon’s brother), James the Great (brother of John) and John who were sons of Zebedee were all fishermen; Philip was from Behtsaida and a town mate of Peter and Andrew; Bartholomew, from Cana in Galilee (a friend of Philip); Thomas (Didymus) was also a fisherman; Matthew (Levi), a tax-collector; James the Less, farmer (brother to Judas Thaddeus); Judas Thaddeus, farmer (brother of James the Less); Simon, zealot or a revolutionary; Judas Iscariot, from Kerioth in Judah, and; Matthias who took over the place of Judas Iscariot.

         There is no record even in the Scriptures that would show the parameters as to how Jesus chose the 12 Apostles and the only record of the credentials needed to be an Apostle comes from the conditions that Peter laid down when the remaining 11 Apostles and perhaps the other disciples have to adhere to especially when they chose a replacement for Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus.

          But Peter in 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝟏:𝟐𝟏-𝟐𝟐 said an Apostle must have three qualifications: 𝑯𝒆 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅; 𝑯𝒆 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒑𝒕 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒂𝒏𝒅; 𝑯𝒆 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕. It was possible that Jesus too may have these three conditions in mind when he made that decision. Whatever the reason was, Jesus saw beyond the externalities and knew there was something good that he can draw from the 12 Apostles.

          And now we know for a fact that after the 12 Apostles, 266 Popes including Pope Leo XIV have emerged to sit at the chair of Peter. Still, there are numerous saints who have been canonized by the church and Jesus is still calling men and women to pursue the same mission that he left to the church that he established through Peter.

         Mark the Evangelist provides an additional piece of information when he wrote in 𝑴𝒌 3:14 that Jesus chose the 12 Apostles that “𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒎𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑯𝒊𝒎 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑯𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉.” At that time, the term “𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐇𝐢𝐦” meant to be associated with Him as his friends and Jesus still uses this relational principle to call those who will be sent. Simply said, we must have a friendly relationship with Jesus if we feel we are called and sent, and before we go the mission field.

         Roget’s Thesaurus defines “𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝” as someone in “𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐬, 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐜𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞, 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞, 𝐚 𝐛𝐨𝐬𝐨𝐦 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝.” In other words, to be a Christian disciple, we need to be in good terms with Our Lord. We need to be in good footing with Jesus meaning we can stand before him sans the bitterness, resentments, unforgiveness, self-righteousness and sinfulness that we may have picked up in the world around us.

         A friend of Jesus is someone who follows, accepts and embraces his commission to spread the Good News. And to provide you with an overview of our calling as Christian disciples, the 𝐂𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐂𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐍𝐨. 𝟗𝟔 states that: “𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐲 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭, 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐲.”

        This only means that the Sacred Traditions of our Church has been handed down from the time of the Apostles and that we who now comprise the church that Jesus established are mandated to preserve this faith and traditions by making sure that these are passed on to others.   

         As Jesus chose ordinary men and a strange mixture at that to be his Apostles, we who also come from diverse backgrounds and social standing are now being called to continue the mission of Christ.

         And Jesus shows us right at the beginning of this Gospel the key that will ensure the success of our mission: “𝑱𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒂 𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚, 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝑮𝒐𝒅.” (𝑳𝒌 6:12) Here we see Jesus setting up the foundation of his mission – prayer, forming his community of disciples and then proceeding with his ministry. This is the reason why many of us fail in our mission because many times we do things in reverse, and we only think of prayer when everything else have failed.

         Jesus shows us that evangelization doesn’t begin with programs and techniques but with prayer which brings fellowship not only with God but with others that will lead to the birth of an authentic community, and it is only then that we can go to bring the Good News to the world.

         The last part of today’s gospel provides an interesting sidelight in that “𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒅 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒉 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒂𝒍𝒍.” (𝒗.19) Prayer is one of the means by which we can touch Jesus and prayer becomes the lifeline through which God bestows on us his power and his Grace which are necessary to equip us in our mission.

         Prayer is the most important component of ministry work because when we pray, we are listening to the voice of God. When we make prayer a habit, it provides us the power to deal with success and failure, prosperity and poverty, health and sickness, life and death and, the times when we feel we are going through a storm and or desert in our life.

         Some years back when the revival movement spread through the youth generation in the United States the young leaders coined a name for their movement, and it was a question – 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐖𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐬 𝐃𝐨? (𝐖𝐖𝐉𝐃) It became a battle cry for the youth who were at the cross road of their existence in view of the many problems confronting the youth then.

         I have since coined a variation to this question and it goes like this - 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈𝐬 𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐬 𝐓𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐌𝐞 (𝐖𝐈𝐉𝐓𝐌). The purpose is for everyone to ask this question in retrospect especially when reading the gospel during your daily devotional. As you reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures, you will be able to do so with clarity and purpose when you ask yourself 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈𝐬 𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐬 𝐓𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐌𝐞 (𝐖𝐈𝐉𝐓𝐌). (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 – 𝘚𝘦𝘱𝘵. 9, 2025)