and chose Twelve of them, whom he called ‘apostles’: Simon, whom he named Peter,
and his brother Andrew; James and John; Philip and Bartholomew; Matthew and Thomas;
James son of Alpheus and Simon called the Zealot; Judas son of James, and Judas
Iscariot, who would be the traitor.

Reflect

“Jesus chose them.” Today’s Gospel tells that Jesus spent a night in prayer. Afterwards, he
chose his Twelve Apostles. We may reflect on the point that Jesus did not choose people
having similar personalities. Rather, Jesus chose people of different characters. Simon and
Jude could be taken as examples. On the one hand, Simon is identified as a Zealot (cf. Lk
6:15) while in other accounts he is identified as Simon the Cananean (cf. Mk 3:18; Mt
10:4). On the other hand, Jude is identified as Judas the Son of James (cf. Lk 6:16) and
as Thaddeus (cf. Mk 3:18; Mt 10:3). Based on other manuscripts for Matthew 10:3, Jude is
also referred to as Lebbaios. This word is from the Hebrew libbai, which means “hearty.”
The Hebrew word leb means “heart.” We may wonder how the personality of Simon, the
nationalistic, would blend with the personality of Jude, the cordial and exuberant.
While being summoned to become the better versions of ourselves, the Lord always
respects our personalities. He builds up on the good side of our character, allowing it to
harmonize with those of others whom he also called to follow him on the road.

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