The Names of the Twelve

Author

Wes Schaeffer
July 07, 2021

From today’s reading…

These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon who is known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James the son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who was also his betrayer.” Matthew 10:2-4

“On whose authority?” is a valid question in most anything you do.

Steve Young was ready for his moment because he spent four years as Joe Montana’s backup at the 49ers.

Tom Brady won’t have any problems landing a football coaching job when he retires, and anyone he coaches would have instant credibility as well.

Tim Cook slid right into the CEO spot at Apple because of his time with Steve Jobs.

Ditto for Steve Balmer under Bill Gates. (I’m noticing a lot of famous Steves. Maybe I should change my name…but I digress.)

You know you’re dealing with a great man when you see them build up—and lift up—great men around them.

Great men who may become better standard-bearers than even they were (because they stand on the shoulders of giants).

Now I’m not saying the apostles were greater men than Jesus, but they did have great callings, great ministries, and great power, as seen in verse 1, “He summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits with power to drive them out and to cure all kinds of disease and all kinds of illness.”

And with an unbroken line of succession from Peter to Francis today, I trust that the power and authority Jesus personally handed to the twelve is alive and well today in the Church, the Magisterium, and in the Tradition, which all come together to help me…

Stay the course.Keep the faith.Endure.

Now go sell something.