Tuesday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time
(Colossians 2:6-15; Luke 6:12-19)
The twelve men Jesus chooses as his apostles probably feel
honored. Evidently, Jesus sees in them a
special quality that makes them fit for preaching the kingdom. They will stand out among his other disciples
and have a closer relationship with their master.
Perhaps, however, as Jesus provides more details about the costs
of close discipleship, they will wonder what they have gotten themselves
into. He will explain that preaching the
Kingdom in his wake will make them hated and subject to murderous plots. They may come to feel like many American
draftees in the 1960s being sent to fight in the jungles of Vietnam.
All the apostles except for John are thought to have
suffered martyrdom. For this reason alone
their names merit honor. They have
become our heroes who gave their lives for more than even their country. They gave them for Christ, the incarnation of
the Kingdom of God.
