Friday of the 2nd week of Ordinary Time (Mk 3, 13-19)

Calling stories are recurrent throughout the Bible. The one offered to us today by the evangelist Mark is scripted. Jesus climbs the mountain which is, in the Old Testament, the privileged place of encounter with God. By choosing this place, Jesus therefore does not really choose to distance himself from the disciples but rather to suggest his identity. It is in the name of God that he will call the disciples. Like Moses in his time, they will come to him. Called together, summoned to form a community, the disciples also experience a unique encounter with the Lord. The mission that some then receive has three dimensions: to be with him, to announce the Good News and to cast out evil. It is indeed a single mission which takes three complementary forms, that of living with Christ and doing the works of the Father, as the evangelist Saint John says elsewhere. Their action can only come from this “being with Christ”, this rooting in his word and in his love. Finally, the account specifies that some of the newly called receive a name, given by Jesus himself. This characteristic is also already present in the calls of the Old Testament. This new name accompanies the new mission. The name expresses the identity and the change of name shows that the relationship with Christ transforms people in depth and leads them to a new way of being and acting in the world.

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