I must admit that there is something attractive and even accurate to the thesis that the Apostles were buffoons before they had the full transformation that happened at Pentecost.  First, Mother Angelica points out that they never seemed to catch anything on their own even as fishermen!  "Jesus chose a bunch of stinky fishermen" she reminds us as to why God chose someone like her to be a cloistered-evangelist to the nations in founding EWTN. We have Christ's disciples' obvious sins, like Peter's threefold denial of Jesus.  And yet, after the Resurrection, Jesus does not say "Peter, about denying me three nights ago...You can still remain my disciple, but I'm going to have [...]