If you saw Jesus on the street today and He asked you to follow Him, what would you do? Quick, make the choice! In our heart, I am sure we would say yes Lord and follow Him. It is the question asked in Sidewalk Prophets current single You Can Have Me. They go on to add the catch, "But I had to give up everything; All I once held dear and all of my dreams; Would I love You enough to let go; Or would my love run dry; When You asked for my life" It is, of course, the question that Jesus asked his apostles. They did follow him and left behind their old way of life. It made me think, would I even see Jesus in the streets of today? There are so many distractions. We are all so busy. Would I take the time to stop and talk to Jesus? If the answer is no, that signals a deeper problem. If we are indeed too busy for Jesus, what are we doing with our time that is more important? What are we doing with our time that will take care of us eternally? Are we building up the Kingdom of God with our time? I heard a statistic yesterday that said we will end up watching almost nine years worth of television over the course of our lives, yet we will only end up spending five months of our lives doing charity or religious activities. I took that as a challenge. I started doing an inventory of the time I spend on each activity. I am committed to making that five months into 5 years or more. It is probably a good way to make sure that I will see Jesus on the street if He comes looking for me.
The twelve apostles chosen by Jesus formed the bedrock of the early Church , and their Catholic identity is deeply rooted in their direct relationship with Christ and the mission He entrusted to them. The Catechism of the Catholic Church highlights this foundational role, stating that Jesus "instituted the Twelve as 'the seeds of the new Israel and the beginning of the sacred hierarchy'" ( CCC 860 ). These men were not simply followers; they were handpicked by Jesus, lived intimately with Him, witnessed His miracles and teachings firsthand, and were specifically commissioned to preach the Gospel to all nations ( Matthew 28:19-20 ). Their unique position as eyewitnesses to the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, and their reception of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, established them as the authoritative leaders of the nascent Church, a reality echoed in the writings of early Church Fathers like Ignatius of Antioch, who emphasized the apostles' authority as repre...
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