Page:Jesus of Nazareth the story of His life simply told (1917).djvu/196

 cunning and strong, He was at hand, always ready to help. If trouble came they could cling to Him, and He would take care of them. But what would become of His followers when He had gone away?

Our Lord, too, asked Himself this question. To understand His own answer to it we must bear in mind His tender love, not for those only who flocked to Him during His Life on earth, but for every soul redeemed with His Precious Blood; that is, for every one of us. However unimportant in the eyes of men, however sinful we may be, we have each of us a place in the Heart of Christ; each one may say with St. Paul: "He loved me and delivered Himself for me."

Because He loves us He had to find a way by which the Gospel or good tidings He has brought to the world might reach us, by which we who have never seen His face or heard the sound of His voice may know what we must do to save our souls. Like those who crowded about Him in the villages of Judea and the towns of Galilee, we should want to be taught and comforted, we should have sins to be forgiven. And because we are most of us poor and simple and have to work hard for our daily bread, we should need a plain and simple way to Heaven. We have no time, even were we clever enough, to think out hard questions.

Our dear Lord knew all about us, and this is what He did. From among those who believed in Him and listened with docility to His teaching, He chose twelve whom He called Apostles, or messengers "sent," because they were commissioned by Him to carry on His work among men and teach what they had themselves been taught. These Twelve He kept constantly with Him. He instructed them very carefully in all they would have to know. He answered their difficulties.