James, the Son of Alphaeus

We see James, the Son of Alphaeus in the list of Apostles in the New Testament. In three synoptic gospels, his name is listed in the list of twelve. We have no much information of his individual activities other than his presence among the twelve disciples of Jesus. He is believed to be the brother of Matthew. He was a witness of the true words and miracles of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and a witness of His suffering, Resurrection and Ascension.

Some traditions believes that he was a tax collector. After the Pentecost he preached in Judea and then to Edessa with Apostle Andrew then moved to Gaza and Eleuthero polis. We have many others named James in the New Testament which may confuse him with James, the of Zebedee and the James, the brother of Jesus (James, the Less or Younger).

The life of James, the Son of Alphaeus is hidden in the scripture, plenty of traditional sources penning his life and mission which leads to his martyrdom. The unnoticed heroes of the vineyard are plenty, but our Lord is righteous enough to give them their reward and honor them with the Crown of Life.

Judas Thaddeus

“Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourselves to us and not to the world.”

John 14:22

Judas Thaddeus is a disciple of Jesus other than Judas Iscariot. In Luke and Acts he is described as the son of James. In Mathew and Mark, he is identified with Thaddeus. All efforts by the evangelists are to differentiate him from Judas Iscariot. Whatever his identity, the only event the Gospels record of his career is John 14:22. It is his doubt regarding the manifestation of Jesus only to them not to the world.

A disciple always is to be curious and feel free to ask his doubts to his teacher.  Jesus answered that the way of power can never substitute for the way of love. He saves the deepest revelations of himself for those who love and obey him.  He offers a mystical relationship with the God the Father and the Son, making home with those who love him and keep his commandments.

In the Jewish world, the commandments (Law) gave people heavy burden and in Jesus he offered his yoke easy and burden light. In Old Testament, we see obedience out of fear of punishment and the hope of reward. In New Testament, obedience is out of love and is not blindly following. Discipleship is following the footsteps of Jesus. Commandments are important to a disciple because the One who gave them are important to him, that is why he wants to follow them.

Philip, The Apostle

 

Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us”.

John 14:8

Philip was one of the disciples whom Jesus personally invited to follow him. He is mentioned in the synoptic gospel only in the list of the disciples. We get his words and actions from John’s gospel. He was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip may have been a disciple of John the Baptist as his call took near Bethany beyond Jordan where John was baptizing. He was eager to share the light he received to his friend Nathanael and invite him to Jesus. Jesus tests him by asking “where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat” when a large crowd approached him. Philip looks only to the expense of the matter where Andrew finds a possibility. He acts as intermediary between Christ and Greeks who had come to worship at the Passover. We see Philip also in the Upper Room who were waiting for the coming of Holy Spirit.

The request of Philip, “to show us the Father, that is enough for us” is the intense desire of a spiritual person. But at the same time, he fails in seeing the Father in Jesus.  The question of Jesus to Philip, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me Philip” is a question to all our spirituality. We have to accept it that we still lack in knowing Jesus as he is. Though we are feeble weak and fragile, we have our Lord to correct us and lead us to new spiritual life.

The disciples are not extraordinary beings. They were ordinary people with extraordinary anointing.  They were not perfect. But they were not rejected in their weakness. They were not replaced with a new better one. God is not a Boss who always demands perfect people to be with his Company. Jesus always strengthens them, corrects them and leads them to new spiritual directions.

Nathanael Bar Tholami

 

 

Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” John 1: 46

 

Bartholomew is one of the disciples appears in all four lists of the twelve disciples of Jesus. There is no mention of him other than this list. Nathanael is identified as Bartholomew so that his full name may be Nathanael Bar – Tholami. He is believed to be in close association with Philip who brought him to Jesus. We see him by the sea of Tiberias along with other disciples after the resurrection of Jesus.

While Philip introduces Jesus to him as the one who is in the Law of Moses and the prophets, is the son of Joseph from Nazareth, Nathanael is not concealing his inner feelings and asks, ‘Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”. Nazareth was an insignificant and ruddy town and also theologically unimportant in Scripture. The prejudice inside him is unveiled that he is skeptical about the idea of a Messiah from Nazareth. He accepted the open invitation of his friend Philip, “Come and See him”, an invitation the church has to place before all. He meets Jesus the first time while Jesus had seen him before while he was sitting under the fig tree. He sees us before we see him. As Hagar experience in the desert, He is a God of seeing. Jesus promises him that he will see heaven opened and angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man in response to his faith proclamation about Jesus as the Son of God and the King of Israel.

The honesty and transparency of Nathanael is seen in his first response about Jesus, the mark of real spirituality. Discipleship is not blind following but asking and questioning to find out the real. It needs the real confrontation and experience with Jesus. Jesus always calls us ‘to come and see’.   

John the Apostle and Evangelist

 

One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, 

was reclining at table close to Jesus (Jn 13:23)

We see John always in the inner circle of Jesus with Peter and James. Though we don’t know the chemistry of this companionship, we see John as the one who always claims himself as the beloved disciple of Jesus. Whether Jesus has a partiality among his disciple is questionable. Rather, John is believed to be the youngest of the disciples and Jesus may have a special concern towards him. 

John is the one who followed Jesus with Andrew and was the son of Zebedee and the brother of James. Jesus calls him and his brother, the sons of thunder. The voice of this thunder can be heard in the writings of St. John in proclaiming the divine mystery of incarnation- the love of God made flesh and dwelt among us. He has contributed five books in the New Testament and says the world itself could not contain the books that would be written if every act of Jesus to be written.

John has seen the glory of Jesus in the Mount Tabor and witnessing this glory to others by saying ‘we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth’. He was reckoned worthy to recline on the breast of the Lord, listening his heartbeat. It would be beating a little faster as the physical departure is always painful and the betrayal of his own disciple is on the way. As he heard the heartbeat of his Lord while reclining to him how can he be away from him at the moment of Jesus’ passion. He was the only disciple who followed Jesus and witnessed crucifixion with Mary and other women.

The true disciple always can hear the heartbeat of Jesus. They can see the world with that sound in his or her ear. Every Eucharist also calls us to recline to his breast like a child at his mother’s breast feeling freedom from all tension. In Jesus we find physically a place to lean on, to feel safe and secure at every life situation. Let us lean on to him and find the true meaning of love in him like John the Apostle.

ANDREW, THE FIRST DISCIPLE OF JESUS

 

 ANDREW, THE FIRST DISCIPLE OF JESUS

 

Though New Testament shows little interest in Andrew, he is believed to be the first disciple of Jesus. He was, the son of Jonah, a native of the city Bethsaida/ Capernaum, the brother of Peter (may be the younger brother) and was a disciple of John the Baptist. As directed and pointed by his Guru(teacher) he was unhesitatingly obedient to follow ‘the Lamb of God’. It is believed that the other disciple who followed Jesus with him was evangelist John. The Evangelist says that ‘they saw where he was staying; and they stayed with him that day...’.

He started his mission in an unusual apostolic spirit inside his own house by introducing Jesus the Messiah whom he long awaited for to his brother Peter without late. Though his co-follower John and his own brother Peter are very eminent in Jesus’ circle he is not worried of the same, but doing his mission very silently and actively. It is important in our spiritual life how we are spiritually brought up! Being a disciple of John the Baptist, his true follower Andrew also may believe “He must increase, I must decrease”. (Jn3:30). 

While other disciples were doubt in feeding the five thousand, Andrew foresees the power of Jesus and leads him to the small boy with five loaves and two fishes. The visionaries always envision the great in small things. He always wanted to link people with Jesus. He is the one who informs Jesus about the Greeks who wanted to see him. As his name is from Greek origin, meaning manly, we can see the cultural openness in his family.

He was with the gang of disciple who questions Jesus about the destruction of the temple when Jesus predicts it.  The Acts of Andrew is well written in extra biblical texts and his seer to proclaim the gospel is seen in them. He also became an Apostle to Greeks and a martyr for Christ by suffering the torture of crucifixion. What a blessedness he enjoyed in following Jesus and lovingly dedicating himself as a living sacrifice for Jesus.

The Fast of the Apostles

 

BEGINNING OF THE FAST OF THE APOSTLES

CALLING AND ELECTION OF THE APOSTLES

LUKE 6: 12 -19

Friends,

Today is an important day in the life of the Holy Church as we commemorate and partake in the Fast of the Apostles. On these thirteen days of lent in June beginning today, we remember all the Apostles-their calling, commitment and their life dedicated for the glory of God.

In the background of the text for today’s meditation, we read two incidents in the public ministry of Jesus. Both of them are telling about Jesus’s confrontation with the Jewish authorities regarding the negligence of the practice of Sabbatical observances from Jesus. Jesus is affirming that the basic necessities of human are above all Law. And God is the one who ensures the abundance of life and in Jesus we see the embodiment of that divine love. This incident ends in fury and conspiracy against Jesus.

We read the text in the context of these adverse situations. The calling of Apostles is not in the midst of an easy-going life situations. Jesus finds time in spending a night in prayer, where he finds solution to all his problems.  The mountain experiences tell us of a higher spiritual realm in his life which always he loves. Though there may be many disciples, Jesus specially selects twelve to be the Apostles. Every disciple has a mission but the called one has some special responsibilities.  Apostle means the one sent on a mission. Jesus’ takes the Apostles with him on the mountain is to train them to be in prayer in the midst of their spiritual life while facing hostile life realities.

The life of the disciple is not only to be in the mountain with spiritual experiences, but also to be in the valleys to face the life realities.  Jesus came down with them and saw a great multitude from Judea and Jerusalem and also from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon both from friends and hostile land (notorious for their wickedness). God’s love embraces, touches and heals all.  The Mission of the Apostles demands a mission embracing all irrespective of caste, creed, religion and color what may build boundaries with others.