Jan 23 Fri
Are we all called to form the Church?
The Gospel today tells us that "Jesus went up to the mountain and called to him those whom He wanted, and they came to him."
Every day, Jesus calls us, and He wants us to be his disciples and to continually affirm our desire to follow Him. We must approach him every day. He has a mission for you every day.
The Lord Jesus “called” the twelve disciples to come together. He calls each one individually. This calling or vocation is always personal. God and me.
The Gospel provides more detail about the vocation of seven of the disciples, but we can be sure that the journey of the others also began with a personal encounter and conversation with the Lord. A vocation has its stages, which can be clearly seen in Simon, who was called to follow Him twice, and later had this choice confirmed and clarified.
However, in Saint Mark's narrative, the tone of the story suggests that this was not merely an employee briefing before the start of a task.
What was special about this moment?
Jesus called them together as a group, the Church, which is a community of people, each of whom has said yes to God.
These twelve received a special mission: to be responsible for the transmission of God's grace through the Word and sacraments.
Equally, we have all been called to the Church. Jesus wants us to become his family. That is the Church.
Of course, she is also a human institution by the will of the Lord Jesus. He did not divide the disciples into the better and the worse but chose the twelve to go and also appointed the leader, Simon Peter.
The Church is and appears to be an organization because, in this world, that is necessary. Above all, she is the family of God’s children.
The initiative belongs exclusively to the Lord Jesus, and the choice does not depend on the disciples. "He called to himself those He wanted." But "they came to him." They came because they wanted to, and certainly with joy and healthy pride.
The initiative belongs exclusively to the Lord Jesus, and the choice does not depend on the disciples. "He called to himself those He wanted." But "they came to him." They came because they wanted to, and certainly with joy and healthy pride.
Recently, some have been rejecting this divine invitation. They do not want to be in the Church, sometimes claiming that one can be a disciple of Jesus without belonging to the Church. They believe they don't need to be with the other disciples. Yet Jesus, on the mountain, calls the disciples as a group and wants them to form an organized community.
Every day, Jesus calls us. We are already part of his family, and He will never cast us aside. But He wants us to continually affirm our desire to be His disciples each day. He has a mission for you every day.