Called and Sent

In today’s 2nd reading from St. Paul’s letter to the Romans Paul calls himself an “apostle,” for he writes, “Through Him we have received the grace of apostleship, to bring about the obedience of faith.” Last week in our RCIA class a discussion arose regarding who is an apostle and what is the definition of an apostle? I will attempt an answer.

When we think of Apostles we usually think of the twelve apostles and rightly so, they are the foundation on which Christ would build His Church. They have a place that no others have as their names will be written along with the twelve tribes of Israel along the walls of the New Jerusalem. They also were given a specific office, an office of leadership in the Church. In the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 16, Jesus says to Peter, “And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (Mt 16:17-19) Peter is given authority, not simply an honor, but an authority to keep the Church as one. This authority Jesus wanted shared, so he also appointed the other eleven apostles a place – an office, for in Matthew chapter 18, Jesus says to them all, “Amen, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (Mt. 18:18) This authority is played out in numerous places throughout Scripture. In Acts chapter one, after they have received the gift of the Holy Spirit the Apostles choose a successor to Judas. In Acts chapter 15 they call the very first Church Council which determined acceptance of the Gentiles into the Church. There are many other such examples and all of them clearly show the Apostles were to lead the Church. Knowing that they could not be Apostles forever, since men die, they began to ordain others to succeed them; therefore our very own bishops today are Apostles with the charism of leadership.

With all of that, which was a mouthful, we must also remember that those with an office of apostleship are not the only apostles, we too are apostles. For by definition an apostle is anyone who is called by name and sent, c.f. “But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, Jacob, and formed you, Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name: you are mine.” (Is. 43:1) and, “Jesus sent out these twelve after instructing them thus, “Do not go into pagan territory or enter a Samaritan town. Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Mt. 10:5-7) And in another Gospel Jesus sends out seventy two. So, being an apostle is not just for the twelve, but for all of us.

The confusion sets in because we only think of the twelve as being apostles, but St. Paul calls himself an apostles and he was not part of the original twelve. Barnabas is also referred to as an apostle along with Paul as Acts 14:14 tells us. We understand that Paul, Luke, Barnabas came after and it is easier for us to refer to them as apostles since they were saints, but we still have a difficultly in referring to ourselves that way. That difficulty should not exist.

For through faith you are all children of God in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free person, there is not male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendant, heirs according to the promise. (Gal. 3:26-29) Even though the Twelve Apostles have a special place and role as do their successors (our current bishops), we nevertheless, all of us together belong to Christ. All of us are apostles and we become so at our baptism, that is when we are called and sent. We may not realize the “sending part” until we mature in faith, but we are sent each and every one of us.

The greater question at work here is not so much, “how can I be an apostle,” but rather, “if I am an apostle, for what was I sent?” I will end the homily here and allow you to go home and answer that question for yourselves. You have been informed, you are Apostles, called by name at your baptism, Jesus has therefore sent you on mission, what is your mission? God bless you my fellow apostles.

FJ