If a man is known by the company he keeps, then what do the Twelve Apostles tell us about the Lord? After all, they were not always the most impressive men.
Peter merited our Lord’s rebuke when He tried to sway Him from His mission. James and John received a similar scolding when they wanted to call down fire from heaven. All twelve failed to understand our Lord’s prophecies of the Passion, and they all abandoned Him at His arrest. Peter denied Him, and only John remained at the Cross. Nevertheless, our Lord Himself chose them as His companions, confidants and representatives, and His Church rests on the foundation of the Apostles, all of which indicates that we can know something about Him by this company He kept.
Consider the simple fact that our Lord “summoned the Twelve” (Mt 10:1). He called them together on His own initiative. As He would explain later, they did not choose Him — He chose them. They were not a bunch of friends who decided to follow Him. In fact, many would not have chosen to associate with one another at all had it not been for our Lord. Would those hardworking fishermen have otherwise befriended Matthew the tax collector? Would the practical-minded fishermen and tax collector hang out with Simon the Zealot? Something more than mere human affection and shared interests brought them together.
Our Lord was the principle of unity for the Apostles. He united them. When they lost sight of Him and His example, division arose and they quarreled with one another (cf. Mk 9:34; 10:41; Lk 22:24). Their shared love for and devotion to our Lord brought those different men together, and He made them, in the simple words of Scripture, “the Twelve.”
As with the Apostles, so also with the Church founded upon them. The principle of the Church’s unity is our Lord. We call the Church “one” because her founder is one. No economic system, political party, social construct — or even professional sports team — can establish unity between the diverse peoples of the world. Our Lord alone unites people of every race, age, profession, class, etc. At His crib in Bethlehem we find both the shepherds and the Magi — that is, the poor and the wealthy, the uneducated and the learned, Jews and gentiles. Many religions attract one group or another. Our Lord founded the Church upon the Apostles to attract all groups and make them one.
The same is true at a parish church on any given Sunday. It may be impolite to observe this, but parishioners do not attend Mass together simply because they have the same backgrounds, or interests, and not (dare we say it?) simply because they like each other. Certainly, some parishioners have such things in common. But ultimately, they come together at Mass because they share the need for His mercy and the desire to follow Him. The common focus on our Lord unites people in a parish. Those who in the world’s eyes have little in common suddenly realize that they share the one thing necessary: the Lord Himself. And if they lose that focus on the Lord and unite on some lesser good, they cease to be Catholic and become a clique instead.
Our Lord truly kept the company of the Apostles. He kept them together. He kept them with Him before He sent them out. He kept them as “the Twelve,” and as one. He similarly keeps the Church today, preserving her unity and sanctifying her members. May we always find ourselves in the company He keeps.
Fr. Scalia is parochial vicar of St. Rita parish in Alexandria, VA.
(This article courtesy of the Arlington Catholic Herald.)
