Gospel (Lk 6:12-19)

In these days he went out to the mountain to pray; and all night he continued in prayer to God. And when it was day, he called his disciples, and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles; Simon, whom he named Peter, and Andrew his brother, and James and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot, and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

And he came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. And all the crowd sought to touch him, for power came forth from him and healed them all.

Commentary

Important decisions are not improvised from one day to the next. Jesus knew that his apostles were called to form his Church and spread the Gospel throughout the world. That’s why he spends the entire night in prayer, imploring his Father God to help him choose correctly. He would do the same thing several years later in the Garden of Olives, asking for strength to fulfill his Father’s will.

It is in prayer, in face-to-face dialogue with God, where we also ponder the decisions that will mark our own lives. What does our Lord want from me here? How can I handle this situation? What is He trying to tell me through this thing that just happened to me? The big questions we may ask ourselves find their answer in these moments of intimacy with Jesus.

But our interaction with God is not limited only to talking to Him about these big questions. A father is interested in even the smallest concerns of his child. Therefore we try to talk to our Lord about whatever is in our hearts and minds: dreams, worries, joys, fears, doubts....

Thus our entire day becomes prayer. We learn how to constantly turn to Jesus in whatever happens to us. We learn to rejoice with Him over good news, to suffer with Him amid adversity, to console Him when witnessing sin around us... And we will come to realize each day that God is looking at us in every moment.