GOD'S BUSINESS

Wednesday of the 14th Week in Ordinary Time
Mt 10:1-7

Matthew gives us today the official list of the twelve closest associates of Jesus. The list is not very impressive. By what we know about the men behind the names listed, they are ordinary people for so extraordinary a mission. Matthew is a tax collector. Simon of the Zealot party is a troublemaker. I am not very sure about Judas Iscariot; some say he is the most educated but nothing in the Bible says exactly that. And the rest are smelly fishermen.

I recall a tongue-in-cheek remark made by the English humorist G. K. Chesterton in paying tribute to England’s 12-person jury system. Chesterton said, “For easy jobs, like exploring outer space, we choose extraordinary scientists. But for difficult jobs, like deciding if someone is guilty or innocent, we choose ordinary citizens.”

Sometimes the most extraordinary mission does not require extraordinary men and women. It is the mission that is extraordinary, not the missionary.

The twelve apostles are witnesses to the fact that God is in the business of doing extraordinary things through ordinary people.