Joachim and Anne were the parents of Jesus’ mother, Mary. We don’t know many details about their lives because they are never mentioned in the New Testament. Everything we know about them comes down through tradition—the stories people told about them.
Do you have a good friend who truly knows and loves you? Bartholomew, one of Jesus’ Twelve apostles, discovered that Jesus knew him even before they had met for the first time.
Matthew, the Evangelist who wrote the Gospel that appears first in the New Testament, was different from the other Apostles. He was not a popular man. Many people felt that he was unworthy to be a chosen as a follower of Jesus. Matthew worked for the Romans as a tax collector. The Romans ruled Palestine and the Jewish people in the time of Jesus. They forced the Jewish people to pay taxes to them. Many of the tax collectors cheated the people by charging more taxes than required and keeping the extra money for themselves. The Jews considered tax collectors to be traitors.
Both Simon and Jude were ordinary men who were chosen by Jesus himself to teach others about God’s love and to “make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). Their lives help us to understand that even the most average people can become saints when they decide to follow Jesus.
Andrew was a fisherman. But he was searching for something more important than life on the sea could give him. Like many faithful Jews of his time, Andrew was waiting for God to send the Savior he had promised.
John is sometimes called “the beloved disciple” or “John the Evangelist.” He was the only one of Jesus’ apostles who did not leave him during his crucifixion and death. In the Gospel Jesus even asks John to take care of Mary, the Blessed Mother, after his death.