From the responsorial psalm: “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. Day pours out the word to day, and night to night imparts knowledge. Their message goes out through all the earth.”
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 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.
Luke tells us that Jesus spent a night in prayer on the mountain before coming down. As day came, he called the disciples to himself and from among them chose the Twelve. Through prayer, Jesus discerned the Father’s will. We hear in the responsorial psalm: “Day pours out the word to day, and night to night imparts knowledge.” The result of appointing the Twelve is that the word of God pours out from them—“a dwelling place of God in the spirit”—over all the earth. Jesus comes down to us as he did to the Apostles. He condescends to offer us the same blessedness as we share the Gospel and participate as the apostles did in the mystery of his passion, death, and resurrection.
Father in heaven, you observe all know my every need even when I am unable to ask you for it. As Jesus appointed the Twelve, did they willingly accept this in anticipation of honor, or did they dread the responsibility or the consequences of following Jesus? Help me choose to be unafraid when you provide me with opportunities to give glory to you. Give me the grace to discern the unassuming ways you make yourself present so that even “the heavens declare the glory of God.” Saints Simon and Jude, pray for us!
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
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