He appointed Twelve, whom he also named Apostles, that they might be with him and he might send them forth to preach and to have authority to drive out demons:

It says that Jesus calls to himself those whom He desired. Who are these few that He called, they were not like His other disciples, they were called apostles and were give special authority. He appoints 12 of them representing the 12 tribes of Isreal that He is restoring to Himself. But more importantly, apostle means “to be sent.” These men were charged with a special mission to go out to all the world, and to spread His kingdom.

These were Jesus’ first bishops. and they would go out and preach, cast out demons, and ordain new priests and eventually even more bishops, and the kingdom would be spread throughout the whole world. These men were the begining of the church. The church that He would later found in the upper room on the night of His passion. These are the ones that He entrusted with this calling, and they did indeed bring Jesus’ message of peace and love to the whole world. If only all of the bishops of the world today would heed the same call and respect the responsibility of that high office, we might not be in the huge mess that we currently find ourselves in.

But we too as average lay people are called to be apostles as well. We are meant to bring the word of God into all the aspects of our lives, to teach our children, and spouses, and siblings, and parents. We too are entrusted with the great call of bringing His message into the world, and that is what He is saying to you in this reading today, How will you answer this call?

Oh lord help me today to hear your call and to follow your lead and bring your word into the whole world. amen.