Jesus Chooses the Twelve

Homily for Friday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time

Numerous significant events in salvation history have taken place on mountains. Noah’s Ark finally came to rest on the top of Mount Ararat. Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son Isaac on the top of Mount Moriah. Moses received the ten commandments in an encounter with God on Mount Sinai.

When we consider the Christian Scriptures, mountains also come into play quite frequently in the life of Jesus. Satan tempts Jesus by taking him atop a mountain and showing him all the kingdoms of the earth. The Sermon on the Mount, as its title signifies, took place atop a significant hill in Galilee. Jesus took Peter, James, and John up the mountain and was there transfigured. We also remember that Jesus died on a cross on Mount Calvary.

In St. Mark’s Gospel, Jesus appoints the twelve after climbing the mountain and summoning them to join him there. We cannot afford to overlook this detail in the Gospel. Surely, St. Mark knew the tradition of the great events that take place on mountains in the Scriptures.

Through these twelve apostles, Jesus begins an unbroken succession that continues today in the bishops of the church. Just as the apostles remain with us in today’s bishops, the message and power of the new covenant remains with us. The finger of God has truly written the law on our minds and on our hearts. In the new covenant, we are not merely informed of God’s law, we are transformed by God’s love – and baptized into it through the power of the Holy Spirit. We are chosen by Jesus Christ to live out the will of God and proclaim the Gospel from every mountaintop.