Advent Reflection - Tuesday of the First Week of Advent

“Apostolic”. It’s one of the four marks of the church that we recite each time the community gathers as part of the Apostle’s Creed. By saying it is a mark of the church, we mean it’s an essential characteristic. At the same time, it has multiple meanings. It means that the church is rooted in the Apostles, that there is an unbroken line that can be drawn from today’s church to the church of the Apostles. While close scrutiny might suggest that this is more ideal than real, it still indicates a kind of relationship to those first Christian communities that makes it accurate to say that we have inherited the Apostolic tradition. This tradition identifies the church today as Christian, the church founded by Christ and his followers.
 
This apostolicity is ritualized in the laying on of hands, something that has signified the passing on of the Spirit of Christ from the earliest times. Unfortunately, the practice has been reified so that ordination has become the sole bearer of apostolicity. However, this is not the case. In fact, it is the whole community that bears this mark and the laying on of hands is a sign of its guarantee. What this means is important to reflect on this Advent. It means that each of us who has received the Spirit of Christ in baptism is called to apostolic living, just as surely as Peter, James, and John in today’s Gospel, and Peter’s brother Andrew, whose feast we celebrate today.
 
In his letter to the Romans—today’s first reading—Paul lays out clearly what it means to be apostolic, His words carry as much meaning today as back then. For today, there are those who need to hear the unambiguous good news that God loves us and through Christ has saved us. “Apostle” means “one who is sent”. In this case, it means one who is sent forth to bear the truth of the Gospel to others. But only those who have already embraced that truth themselves can credibly bear it to others, reflecting that truth unequivocally in their lives. This is what Paul means when he says their feet are beautiful… he is referring to the beauty of a life lived in harmony with one’s convictions. As Paul observes, “But how can they call on him in whom they have not believed?” On this Advent Feast of the Apostle Andrew, let us consider what it means for each of us, that the church of which we are members, is an apostolic church.