Here in the sanctuary we have paintings of the 12 apostles. The additional two paintings are those of Luke and Mark, two of the four gospel writers who were not apostles. Obviously these are an artist’s conception of the apostles - no digital phone cameras existed back then! We really do not know what they looked like nor do we really have a great deal of information about them. But in the gospel today we heard them called by name. We know they had some obvious faults and weaknesses. They were not angels - they were imperfect human beings. The Twelve Jesus chose were just ordinary people from ordinary walks of life - a number of them were fishermen. They had no special qualifications. Far from being perfect, they possessed the same human faults and failings we find in ourselves.

Peter blew hot and cold. At times he was as solid as a rock. But at other times he was more like a piece of jelly. Yet, in spite of everything, his heart was sound. And at the end of the day, it is the heart that matters.

James and John were so hot-tempered that once they wanted Jesus to call down fire and brimstone on a Samaritan village that refused to accept him. They were also full of personal ambition, and wanted to have the top place in Jesus’ kingdom. They caused a great deal of dissension among the others.

Matthew was a member of a hated class of people - he collected taxes for the occupying Romans. Simon belong to a band of people called the Zealots whose aim was to get the Romans out of Palestine. Today Simon would be called a terrorist. Can you imagine an anti-Roman terrorist, Simon, and a Roman supporter, Matthew, at the same dinner table? Thomas earned the nick name the Doubter. Then there was Judas who not only proved a failure, but actually betrayed Jesus. God did not predestine Judas to play the role of traitor. Judas became a traitor through the choices he made. He wasn’t a demon. He was made from the human materials that might have become something very different.

Jesus brings this unlikely group together, he and his vision are the binding elements that keep them from falling apart. Little by little he helps them look out at the world around them - with his eyes. He knows who they are; how different they are. And even though he is not finished with them yet; even though they may feel inadequate to the task, without degrees in philosophy or theology - he sends them out. They have been learning to see with his eyes and to notice and tend to those who are sick, those considered unclean, the lepers of society, the dead in body or spirit; those possessed of other spirits, who are “not themselves,” because they are crazed and distracted. Those Jesus sends are to invite the very ones Jesus would have invited, so that they too will learn and receive what the disciples learned and received from Jesus.

We who gather here today are very much like those first apostles. We are not perfect - we have our disagreements - as Church we have our failings. Many of us here in church today are not part of the same social circles. We certainly are not all family members. Probably there are some here we would wish would just go to another church! We are here, not because we are naturally drawn to each other but because we were baptized. The same water was poured over us and the same words said, “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” And that is why here at St. Peter’s, no matter your current family or marital status; no matter what your past or present religious affiliation is; no matter what your own personal history, age, background, race or color; no matter your own self-image or esteem; you are invited, welcomed, accepted, loved and respected here at this parish named after one of the first of the apostles St. Peter. We have been called by God, named the way the Twelve are named for us today. And like them, we too are sent. Each of us has to look around us at the people we live with, work, recreate with, with the people we go to school with, with the people that are neighbors and strangers...we need to look at the people of the world and we are called to see with the eyes of Jesus and act accordingly. “At the sight of the crowds, Jesus’ heart was moved with pity for them.” No one can tell us exactly where and when we are to respond to Jesus’ call. We will just have to look out and see and hear the way Jesus did.

As baptized Catholics we know that religion in not something we do once a week at church - with a few prayers thrown in during the week for good measure. There is no such thing as an ‘occasional Christian’ - we are called to be full time Christians. We know that our faith is at the very center of our lives and must influence every thing we do, every decision we make so that when we look out at the world we look with the eyes of Jesus and respond with his compassion.

The faces of the first apostles surround us - they knew they were loved by God and the best way to respond to that love was to share that love with others. We come to the same table of the Lord that the first apostles gathered around - let us leave here with hearts full of love for one another.