11th Sunday Ordinary Time

 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time – How do I get to be an Apostle?

Good evening/morning. How are we all today? Have we all been enjoying the sun this past week? Good.

Have you ever thought about the apostles as a group? Not like One Direction but more as the group of men that Jesus had picked to follow him. To follow him and to be his students?

If we were in Jesus’ shoes and were looking to start out on a career of travelling preacher and teacher, who would we pick to be our friends, our companions and our supporters, our chief supporters?

I guess that we might pick people who were like us in lots of ways? Who understood things that we did and who could explain these things in the same ways and to the same impact as we would. People who spoke and explained and argued in the same way as we did. People like us in effect! Wouldn’t we?

I mean that we might throw in there an odd card or two – people who were the complete opposite of us; people who we could use as sounding boards against which we could bounce our ideas and thoughts to see what comes back. To listen to and then tease out any contrary points to our own views so that we can then settle them more soundly and more solidly in our own minds and in our subsequent deliveries and proclamations. We may have one or even a couple like this. But in the main, I think that they would be mirrors of ourselves, echoes of our own voices and thoughts.

And then we look at the apostles and we look at Jesus – and what do we see? Do we see the similarities, the echoes and the mirrors of Jesus within this group of men? No! And not by a long shot.

Jesus picked a group of men so diverse and disparate from him, and to a great extent, from each other, as to be off the scales. Yes -the main core of this group were fishermen. If they were not from the same fleet or village, they would certainly share many of the same truths and facts of life. Theirs was a simple and very hard life. They had no time for time-wasters or people faffing about.  Fishing is hard work. You only catch what you deserve. If you work hard, you will surely be rewarded.

As you can see, I am not a fisherman and have no real idea what the truths or facts of life of a fisherman are or would be – but you get my drift.

And the rest of the apostles, well these were a group of rag, tag and bobtail blokes from a variety of professions and stations in life. Some were educated and held places of note within their societies but most came from the streets where they worked and lived out their lives. They all had little in common beyond the fact that they were Jews – well almost all as Matthew was an excommunicated Jew, being a tax-collector for the Romans.

They were a group that was more full of differences than similarities except that they all had one main thing in common. They were followers of Jesus. He had called them by their names and they had answered. They had answered, responded with their feet, with their minds and eventually with their hearts and souls.

Jesus called and they answered. Jesus said, “Come. Follow me.” And they left what they were doing and followed him for the next three years or so, up and down the country as he talked to people of all races, creeds and colours about the love of God. God’s love for each of them and how they should live lives full of the love of God with and for their neighbours.

These were not all saints – as that is an all-girl group! They made mistakes. They fell down when they were expected to stand up and to step forward in support of Jesus. They ran away and left him on his own when he needed them most.

But they came back together with him and for him at the end. They started and ended with Jesus as his apostles.

So, I come back to my original point, “Have you ever thought about the apostles as a group? And then thought about how and where you would or could stand with them as part of that group.

Jesus has called out to each and every one of us at our Baptism, to, “Come, follow me.”

He wants each of us, with our own characteristics, with our own doubts and failings, to come to him: to listen to what he has to say and then to go out and about in our daily lives and live the love of God – His love for us and our love for Him – in everything that we then do or say, think or feel.

When we look at the apostles, we can see something of each one of us in their group. The doubts, the anger, the suspicion, the worry, the fear, the isolation as well as the trust, the hope, the faith, the belief, the love.

We can all become apostles of Christ. We need to stop and listen as he calls to us, “I have called you by your name, you are mine” and then say loud and clear, “Here I am Lord. I come to do your will.”  Amen

Bidding Prayers

1.      That we can all respond with positive hearts and minds when Jesus calls out our names – Here I am Lord. I come to do your will. Lord in your mercy

2.      That we can determine to lives that reflect God’s love for us in how we show that love to and for our every neighbour. Lord in your mercy

3.      That we can promote discipleship and apostleship as a natural way of living within a caring and loving society. Lord in your mercy

4.      That we promote the sanctity of life, of all life, from conception to the grave whenever and wherever we can in our world today. Lord in your mercy

5.      That there is an end to all wars and conflicts and a return to peace that reflects the sanctity of life and all people’s rights to live lives full of love. Lord in your mercy

6.      That all those in our parish who are suffering any form of illness receive the support and care they need. Lord in your mercy

7.      That all those who have died recently or whose anniversaries occur at this time fined eternal rest with the Lord. Lord in your mercy

8.      That Mary joins her prayers with ours as we now say together, Hail Mary. . . . . .