The first thing we find in today’s Gospel is that Jesus goes up the mountain, and after praying, he calls those he wants; he makes use of his freedom and calls. Those called also respond freely: “they went to him.” Vocation is the meeting of two freedoms. Today, Jesus also calls us to be disciples and missionaries and to have authority over evil. He calls us in freedom and awaits a free response from us. What do we respond?
Be with Him
Jesus calls his first disciples, the “apostles,” and Mark tells us the purpose of this calling: “that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and have authority to cast out demons.” Here we have a crucial passage for everyone, especially for consecrated men and women. First of all, Jesus calls us to be with Him: as if to say, before “doing” (even things for Him), there is “staying” (with Him).
The risk of falling into a form of activism, of doing many things even for Jesus but losing sight of Jesus, is always around the corner. First, there is being with Jesus, then being sent; first letting Him speak to your heart, then you can speak of Him; first letting yourself be loved, then you can love everyone in his name. It is from this primacy of grace that an intense spiritual life and a fruitful mission spring forth.
Called
We see in today’s Gospel a list of those Christ called. We read their names as listed. It is wonderful that Jesus calls each one by name, ennobling life with immeasurable divine grace. We, too, should see ourselves in this way: loved, called by name, missionaries. We are all like this, even Judas, from whom we often want to dissociate ourselves. He, too, was chosen by Jesus and was destined for great and beautiful things.
Let us, therefore, decide to begin by feeling blessed, knowing that every life is blessed, and remembering that in the family, in the Christian community, in the monastery, or on the streets of the world, we are watched by God, called by name, and blessed. Starting from this wonderful certainty, we can freely decide to make a difference and respond to the great love that first comes to meet us, then we can truly be his apostles, “sent” and empowered by the lord himself.
