Coffee With God

 

Reflection: Luke 6: 12-19

Today’s feast honours saints Simon and Jude, Apostles. While the New Testament reveals almost no other information about either of them, tradition holds that these Apostles travelled together, possibly to Egypt and then to Persia where they preached the Gospel. St. Jude is venerated as the patron saint of desperate cases and lost causes, making him a popular saint for the troubled times of our lives particularly when we feel lost and alone. On the feast of the apostles, the gospel highlights three important details from Jesus: Prayer, Call and Mission. Jesus goes up to the mountain to pray, after the prayer, chooses the twelve apostles from among his disciples to join his mission. Jesus, we are told, went up into the mountains to pray and spent the whole night there in prayer to God. Some might wonder what Jesus would have to pray about. Such a question may reveal a limited concept of what prayer is. It is not just a question of asking for things. It is even less a question of fulfilling a religious duty, “saying our prayers”. Jesus’ main concerns was that he does the will of his Father. It makes a lot of sense that Jesus would have wanted to be in intimate contact with his Father and to have spent long periods with him, making sure that there was complete harmony with that will. The election of the apostles is one of the central moments in the life of Jesus. Hardly anyone knew, but that handful of normal men was the spark that later turned into fire that set the world on fire. We sometimes use the terms ‘disciples’ and ‘apostles’ interchangeably. But they have very distinct meanings. The word ‘disciple’ is applied to any person who commits himself to be a follower. ‘Apostle’ refers to a person who goes out as an emissary, delegated to pass on information or instructions to others on behalf of some authority. In the Gospel we find the Lord telling his apostles, “I have chosen you, and not you chose me.” He has chosen them after hours of prayer. Can that be true of us too? If we have become his disciples, it was not our choice, rather it was his choice! He has prayed for us before choosing us and that choice is certainly for a purpose. To discern that purpose of Jesus, there is no other way than to spend time with him. Perhaps forget about all the prayers that we already know, and simply stay with him to listen and to talk to him.