The Catholic writer G.K. Chesterton was a great advocate for the virtues of the everyday man and woman. In his essay on the British jury system, he commented,
“When it (civilization) wishes anything done which is really serious, it collects twelve of the most ordinary men standing round. The same thing was done, if I remember right, by the Founder of Christianity.”
Who were the twelve men known as the Apostles of Jesus Christ? Perhaps one can list all of their names, hopefully keeping track of the different ways they are referred to in the different Gospels. After all, Matthew is also called Levi, Thaddaeus is actually another Judas (literally, not metaphorically), and Bartholomew is the same as Nathanael in the Gospel of John. We know that several of them were fishermen by trade, and that Matthew was a tax collector. We know that Simon Peter, at least, was married and had a mother-in-law whom Our Lord healed. We are given traditions about where each of these men traveled after the descent of the Holy Spirit upon them at Pentecost, with legends of how they died and what became of their bodies, but after 2,000 years much must be taken on faith and our pious belief in these stories.
In reading about the lives of the Apostles, it’s also clear that we have more details about some than about others. It’s not difficult to bring St. Peter or St. Paul alive in our imaginations, but have you have ever tried to clearly picture what James the son of Alphaeus or Simon the Zealot were like as men?
But then we must ask ourselves, “How much does it matter?”
“The Sacrament of Ordination (Christ presenting the Keys to Saint Peter)” from the first of the “Seven Sacraments” series of paintings by Nicolas Poussin (1630s)In our modern culture of social media and tabloid news, it can be easy to get caught up in the details of other people’s lives, especially strangers whom we’ve never met. However, when contemplating the lives of the Apostles or other saints, I find it important to remember the significance of what we don’t know as much as what we do. After all, the Holy Spirit could have seen to it that we were left full biographies and genealogies of each and every one of the Twelve. But it’s not their own lives that are important; it’s Christ’s life in them that we are meant to remember.
As Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen said, “He bade rather insignificant men to take an almost cosmic view of their mission, for on them would He build His kingdom.” It is not the Apostles themselves that are significant; it is the Word of God that they were given which is essential.
God uses the humblest of creatures to achieve His work. One need only look at a figure like St. Catherine of Siena, who began life as an illiterate young girl in 14th-century Italy and is now remembered as a canonized saint and Doctor of the Church, who counseled even the pope in her brief 33 years of life. Like the Apostles, St. Catherine was raised out of the humblest of origins in order to better show what magnificence the grace and power of God could work.
In his classic “The Great Divorce,” C.S. Lewis depicts a variety of “bright Spirits” who are the souls of those who have already reached heaven and been glorified. One of these Spirits in particular is worth noting. Before being told who she is, the narrator describes this woman as having such beauty and splendor that he first suspects she might be the Blessed Virgin Mary. It’s then explained that she was simply Sarah Smith from Golders Green. She was one who led a humble and unknown life on earth, but her spiritual motherhood extended to all whom she met and thus she received her reward in heaven. As the narrator’s heavenly guide explains, “… fame in this country and fame on Earth are two quite different things.” It’s a reminder that there could be living saints all around us, but their humility and modesty are part of their very sanctity.
The Apostles began in obscurity, and their association with the Son of God did not give them earthly celebrity and prestige during their lives. True to the words of their Savior, they suffered great persecution and, tradition holds, all but St. John died as martyrs. If ever we feel unduly attacked and discriminated against because of our faith, we must always remember that Jesus said, “Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Mt 5:11-12) Fame and comfort on this earth are not the goals of the race.
I have a great personal devotion to St. Peter, and his very human faults, enthusiasm and devotion to Our Lord are what attract me to him. His actions and responses in relation to Jesus fascinate me. As with all the saints, the Apostles are worthy of our veneration not for themselves but for how they draw us closer to Christ. We are not given the facts about their families of origin, where they were educated or how much they earned for a living. Instead, they are meant to lead us by the example of how much they loved Jesus and how they willingly gave their lives to spread the Good News. In reality, those are things that each one of us can do, as God calls us in our own way and specific circumstances. What more do we need to know than that?
Jesus did not call the Apostles because they were great specialists in preaching, were experienced in social justice or had great wealth to use in their ministry. He called them for His own reasons and to His own purpose, and because their hearts must have already been turned toward Him. He calls each of us in the same way; exactly how He made us, exactly where He put us, asking only that our hearts be given to Him completely.
Kathryn Evans Heim is an author and wife living outside Salisbury, where she gardens, raises chickens, experiments with cooking and reads too many books. Find her work at www.evanswriting.com.