Daily Retreat 07/09/08

Hos 10: 1-3. 7-8. 12/ Ps 104(105): 2-3. 4-5. 6-7/ Mt 10: 1-7 From today's readings:  "Sow for yourselves justice, reap the fruit of piety; break up for yourselves a new field, for it is time to seek the LORD, till He come and rain down justice upon you....  Rejoice, O hearts that seek the LORD!...  The names of the Twelve Apostles are these: first, Simon called Peter, and his brother Andrew; James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddeus; Simon the Cananean, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus." The Twelve Apostles Here's a little trick for remembering where a list of the Twelve Apostles can be found in the Bible: St. Matthew's Gospel is the first book of the New Testament, and since Matthew was one of the Apostles, it would make sense that the list of all twelve original Apostles could be found in the that book.  Everyone knows that "10 + 2 = 12" and by a happy coincident, the roster of Apostles can be found beginning with Matthew 10:2! The word BAPTISM can also be used as an acronym to help one memorize the names of the Apostles, since the letters of that word include the first initials of all of the Apostles. B - Bartholomew A - Andrew P - Peter, Philip T - Thomas, Thaddeus I - James, James, John, Judas S - Simon M - Matthew Note that the letter "I" legitimately stands for all the "J" Apostles, since "J" was introduced in the Roman alphabet only in the 16th century, precisely in order to alert readers when the letter "I" was to be pronounced as a consonant.   Also, as variations in the acronym, "Peter" could be listed under his original name ("Simon"), and St. Thaddeus could be listed under "I" with his other name, "Jude" (as we find in Luke's listing).