Do you recognise yourself in today's first reading? Even though Paul was writing to the Church in Ephesus, he also had the wider Church in mind. We can consider ourselves included, even though we might not be quite as active as Paul would have us to be.

The purpose of the Church is to make known God's plan of salvation throughout the world. Undoubtedly God can speak in the hearts of every man, woman and child. He does, however, have a positive desire that His love should be built into a body of people and even into the houses of stone and steel and concrete that we call churches.

By baptism, we are built into a body that goes back to the apostles. We find the names of those living foundation stones in today's Gospel as we celebrate the feast of two of them.

The apostles came from a tiny corner of the world, yet they differed in their professions, education, and temperaments. One had a Greek name, some were from Galilee, and one was from Judea. Is there any wonder that the Church of 2009 is so varied in its composition?

The apostles did their job to the best of their ability. They had their fears and their weaknesses, but they were faithful to the end. We, too, can remain faithful and active since Jesus is our cornerstone.