In today’s gospel, we hear about Jesus’ prayerful choice of the apostles who would become the founders of the new people of God, the church. An article by John Reed asks: “So what was Jesus’ criteria for his selection?” Interesting, the criteria Jesus didn’t use was:
- Social status…they were ordinary men and not in high positions in society
- He didn’t use political views either. Simon was an anti-Roman zealot, but Matthew cooperated with the Romans!
- Personalities were very different among them, as were their aptitudes, abilities, and spiritual maturities. Most of the time they missed the point of Jesus teachings; they lacked humility and faith.
Jesus chose these apostles for two reasons: companionship and discipleship. Jesus liked company, loved teaching others, and sharing his Father’s message. For discipleship, Jesus wanted people who would have that close relationship with him. They would come to know his teaching, power, personality, death and resurrection. Because they knew Jesus so intimately, they became the prime source of the Good News for others. It was this relationship with Jesus that motivated them to do Jesus’ mission when he was gone from them.
We can’t deny today is Sept. 11, a day we remember with sadness, a day that changed us forever in many ways. The very first officially listed casualty of the 9/11 attacks was a Franciscan priest named Fr. Mychal Judge. He was chaplain to the New York Fire department and ran to the towers immediately to see how he could minister. Many of us have seen that iconic picture of Fr. Mychal’s body being carried out of the Twin Towers by his beloved firefighters. He responded so selflessly that day because that’s how he responded every day of his priesthood. The homeless people and the AIDS patients of N.Y. knew Fr. Mychal. Being a recovering alcoholic himself, he devoted much time to those who were also recovering. Fr. Mychal followed enthusiastically in the steps of those first apostles, and all of us could learn from his unconditional and inclusive love and acceptance of everyone.
At his funeral, his friend Fr. Duffy said this about him:
“We will bury Mychal Judge’s body, but not his spirit. We will bury his mind, but not his dreams. We will bury his voice, but not his message. We will bury his hands, but not his good works. We will bury his heart, but not his love. Never his love.”
As Jesus prayed, so did Fr. Mychal. I’ll close with the prayer Fr. Mychal composed and recited every day:
“Lord, take me where You want me to go;
Let me meet who You want me to meet;
Tell me what You want me to say;
And keep me out of Your way.”
