COPYRIGHT- THOMAS O'LOUGHLIN- LITURGICAL RESOURCES FOR THE YEAR OF MATTHEW.
Why do we bother recalling all these early disciples? We list them off in this gospel, we recall them in the first Eucharistic Prayer, we name children after them, we dedicate church buildings to their memory, and until recently any group of twelve (be they a collection of spoons or Michael Collins's hit-men in 1921) would be labelled 'the twelve apostles'. We refer to the church as 'apostolic' in creeds because 'it' comes from them and was 'founded' upon them - but this seems like the point of a dilettante, surely it is 'the message' that is important rather than these people long ago? This attitude that the early members of the church - or the lists of saints in between them and now - are 'simply history' (= irrelevant to our belief) is part of the atmosphere we breath. You can check this attitude out quite simply: when was the last time you heard all the early saints' names read out when Eucharistic Prayer 1 was used? There is a real danger today that we reduce the good news to being the 'teaching of Jesus' and so see the Christians as simply those who follow a particular set of religious / moral beliefs and who have rituals and structures simply to promote this philosophy.
Today's gospel reminds us that Jesus did not come to impart a teaching or a philosophy of life, but to establish a community bounded in prayer together (all our rituals and practices) and which shared a vision of God and his love for us (all his teaching). Put simply, if you are not living as part of the community of the Good News, then the teaching of Jesus will make little sense or else seem commonplace.
Celebrating 'the twelve' reminds us that Jesus came to establish a group of people who would share their lives, and love, and work, and vision.
