Last Sunday’s reading reflected the call of God and being sent by Him. (Amos 7:12-15) (Ephesians 1:3-14) Every Catholic can trace their call and being sent, back to Christ Himself. We are all emissaries of Christ in one form or another. Christ Himself was sent by the Father as His emissary, and Christ in turn appointed twelve men to be His emissaries (Mark 6:7-13) with their own authority to appoint more emissaries down through the centuries.Â
What started with twelve bishops, has become 5,100 bishops. What started in the upper room as a mustard seed, (Luke 13:18-19) has spread throughout the world to include the largest plant, 1.3 billion Catholics with 3,160 branches (Diocese) and 223,128 parishes, all still joined in union by the successor of Peter. (John 21:15-19)Â
“That your fruit will remain. “ (John 15:16) This is what Christ told the Apostles, and today through the direct line from the twelve, the work of the twelve continues. The Church keeps growing and expanding, but the core principles of her mission remains the same. The same mission Christ gave to the Apostles, to go out through the whole world proclaiming the Truth of the Gospels. (Matthew 28:16-20) Not only bishops and priests should proclaim the Truth, but lay people as well.
Pope Clement, the fourth pope, wrote to the Corinthians in 90 AD. The Apostles were made preachers of the Gospels to us by our Lord, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was sent by God. Accordingly, when they had proclaimed the word through country districts and cities and had tested the first converts of these by the spirit, they appointed bishops and deacons of those who were to believe. (St. Clement letter to the Corinthians)