He appointed Twelve, whom he also named Apostles, that they might be with him and he might send them forth to preach. According to our creeds,we are an apostolic church, that is a church founded on the apostles. But if you think about it we know very little about the mission of the twleve apostles. A little bit about Peter, a little less about John and some rumors about James — that’s pretty much it. In fact, the lists of the twelve in the New Tetament sometimes sometimes differ. All that says to me that the apostles were absolutely essential to the kingdom-proclaiming mission of Jesus in the world — but they were not that important. They were essential because without them the memory of what Jesus said and did would be lost. They weren’t important, though, as individuals because God was the one who made the mission possible. That is our story as well since we too are called to be apostles in the providence of our daily life. We are essential. God is counting on us bringing good news into our homes, work places, schools. But we should not fret over how to do so since God is the one who makes all things possible.
