Twelve Ordinary Men
This article was originally published in The Catholic News Herald of the diocese of Charlotte.
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 to after the descent of the Holy Spirit upon them at Pentecost, 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 of others. It’s not difficult to bring St. Peter or St. Paul alive in our imaginations, but have you...