Friday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time
The first wail of the church
He went up the mountain and summoned those whom he wanted and they came to him. He appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) that they might be with him and he might send them forth to preach and to have authority to drive out demons: (he appointed the twelve:) Simon, whom he named Peter; James, son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James, whom he named Boanerges, that is, sons of thunder; Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus; Thaddeus, Simon the Cananean, and Judas Iscariot who betrayed him.Mk 3,13-19
The gospel passage speaks today of the birth of the new people of God who, along the times, will be destined to embrace all the nations: it is the root of the old tree, from which will spring a new one, prophesied in the book of Daniel: “I saw a tree of great height at the center of the world. It was large and strong, with its top touching the heavens, and it could be seen to the ends of the earth” (Dn 4,7-8). It is the birth of the Church. To create this new people, Jesus calls twelve men to himself and he brings them to the mountain, outside the context of the old creation. They are ordinary people: Peter, Andrew, James and John were fishermen, Simon the Zealot, a revolutionary, Matthew a collaborator of the Romans, Philip and Bartholomew two simpletons, Thomas is not definitely an idealist, Thaddeus and James of Alpheus two normal people, who are limitedly mentioned in the gospels and Judas, who thinks only to become rich. It is not important what they are, but what they become after living with Jesus for three years, having seen the miracles and heard the revelations of the mysteries of the kingdom, having partecipared in the experience of the cross, being witnesses of the resurrection and having received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. The training program of Jesus is very simple: first, to be with him, then go to preach. It will be the program of the Church of every time and that of any missionary. Today, being with him means to be together as a Church, to receive the sacraments, to pray and to meditate in silence on the Holy Scripture. Adrienne von Speyer, a mystic of the last century, says: “In the silence there is the perfect fulness. In the silence the believer is received in the being of the Father. In the silence of the christian the intimate encounter between creator and creature.takes place”. Today to climb a mountain and to let ourselves being recreated is the way to pull ourselves out of the world. Then, as new creatures, we can go on mission and to proclaim his gospel: only if the world will see our resurrection, people can believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. But we must do it as a Church, not only as individuals. It is not a program of study, it is a program of life.