Jesus went up to the mountain to pray,
and he spent the night in prayer to God.
When day came, he called his disciples to himself,
and from them he chose Twelve, whom he also named Apostles
The decision about the Twelve was obviously hugely important to Jesus. The fact that he spent the night in prayer before choosing was an indication of how serious this was for him, of the fact that it was vital that this choice, even more than most others, was guided by the will of his Father. Not, of course, that he was ever not guided in that way. But for something with such massive ramifications for the future of the world it was fitting for him to show himself to be completely transparent to the will of his Father. Everyone of the Twelve was as intentional a choice as could be. None were accidental. None were arbitrary.
We might imagine that Jesus would have focused more on appointing those people who would go on to write the New Testament. But a majority of the Twelve didn't write any Scriptures. Those who wrote a majority of the Scriptures, especially Mark, Luke, and Paul, were not included in this initial calling of the Twelve. Yet it was these Twelve about whom Jesus prayed, because it was they who would go on become the foundations of the Church (see Revelation 21:14) which was itself the pillar and foundation of truth (see First Timothy 3:15). This meant that none of the Twelve was in a marginalized position for not having written anything for future generations. They were all the first princes of the Church, from whom future bishops received their apostolic succession.
That the successors of the apostles were not always good or admirable did not thereby invalidate the concept. After all, even among the initial twelve there was Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor. Even within the Church the mystery of evil would be present, since it was always found together with human freedom, like tares in the wheat fields. But Judas did not destroy the plan of Jesus and evil would not unsettle the firm foundation upon which the Church was built. Jesus himself promised that the gates of hell would not prevail against it. This was a divine guarantee, not that there would never be abuses of authority, or failures of leadership, or greed, or other vices in the Church, but rather that they would not prevail. And they have not. Some two thousand years later, having demonstrated every apparent defect, having shown all evidence of imminent collapse many times over, the Church persists. She continues to fight, not only the evil in the world, but the evil within herself. And as she does she grows, just as a person grows in virtue throughout his life. She more and more approximates the ideal of Christ come to full stature (see Ephesians 4:13).
Through him the whole structure is held together
and grows into a temple sacred in the Lord;
in him you also are being built together
into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
The Church is where we come together in order to be built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. This reality is actualized especially in the Sacraments, and maximally in the Eucharist. In the Eucharist we receive the One Body of Christ and in turn, to the degree that we are well disposed, become what we receive. The Church has a message that does indeed go out through all the earth. Let us join together to amplify this chorus of praise.
Songs In His Presence - The House Of God
No comments:
Post a Comment