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Gospel: Luke 6: 12-16
Jesus went up to the mountain to pray,
and he spent the night in prayer to God.
When day came, he called his disciples to himself,
and from them he chose Twelve, whom he also named Apostles:
Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew,
James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew,
Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus,
Simon who was called a Zealot,
and Judas the son of James,
and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Immediately before electing the Twelve Apostles, Jesus spent the entire night in prayer to his Father. I don’t imagine it took very long for the Lord to know who his Father had chosen; I can recite all of the Apostles’ names in less than a minute.
So, why did Jesus have to pray all night about it?
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I wonder if he struggled to accept that these were the men his Father wanted.
Peter, the one who will sink into the Sea of Galilee; the one who will try to stop Jesus from entering Jerusalem; the one who will deny Jesus three times before abandoning him at the cross; the same one who will be entrusted with the keys to the kingdom.
Simon and Jude, whose feast day we celebrate today. Like Peter, they will abandon the Lord in his hour of greatest need. And well before that, they’ll will struggle with their faith, argue over who is the “greatest,” and fail to understand the paradoxes of Christ’s teachings.
None of the Twelve are educated; none are wealthy, influential, or scholars of their religion. Many will struggle to get along.
And, of course, there’s Judas Iscariot, who will help to bring Christ’s life and ministry to a bloody end.
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No wonder it took Jesus all night to pray – and, perhaps, to accept – what his Father wanted. But this will not be the last time he struggles in his prayer.
In Gethsemane, Jesus will plead with his Father again, “Let this cup pass from me.”
But his prayer ends with, “Not my will, but Thine be done.”
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Sometimes we all struggle to understand or accept God’s will for our lives. (Some may also feel this way about our Church as our Archdiocese undergoes the restructuring called for in We Are His Witnesses).
But Christ shows us that long periods spent in prayer strengthen us, lead us to acceptance, and fill us with peace.
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Image credits: (1) Learn Relgions (2) Drive Thur History (3) Catholic Virginian