Coffee With God

Reflection: Mark 3: 13-19

Today the Church celebrates the Memorial of Saint Agnes, a third century Virgin and Martyr in Rome. At the age of 12, Saint Agnes endured torture and death because she refused the marriage proposal from someone in power. She had accepted Jesus as her spouse and she preferred death instead of being unfaithful to her beloved Lord Jesus, even at the tender age of 12. She sacrificed her life for what she believed in. God wants us on his side, and that is why he calls us, so that we may be with him and that we may be his own. St. Agnes understood the meaning of God’s love for her. The Gospel today presents us with the call of the disciples, on the mountain. Jesus calls those whom he wants. They are not the smartest, not the most influential, and certainly not the most knowledgeable people of the society. But he choses the most ordinary ones. He wants them to be with him and to send out. To be a disciple of Jesus is to be with him on the holy mountain of prayer and meditation of his Word. But neither he nor the apostles stayed forever on the mountain; they “went out” to be among the people. Every disciple is called not only to be with Jesus but to go out to others. St Catherine of Siena said “Prayer and action are like our two feet: we need them both to be a disciple of Jesus”. The gospel accounts of the call of the apostles are always a puzzle. Jesus spent time in prayer on the mountain before choosing the 12. That was an extraordinary selection process which defied worldly norms for an enterprise to begin with. But we have the excuse that it is Jesus, the Son of God, who after a night-long prayer chooses his men and therefore, he knew their potential. But then, how come Judas Iscariot also got selected? Was he a wrong choice? A theologian had an interesting answer: “I am not sure if Judas was a wrong choice, but I have an even harder question: Why did Jesus choose me?” We have perhaps been too ready to write off Judas. But if Judas is a complete write-off, then so are we! There was one tragic mistake that he made… that was to walk away from the Lord. The reason for Jesus to choose his disciples was that they would remain with him, but at one point Judas chose to walk away. Whenever we hear the list of those chosen by Christ, we can do the exercise of adding our name to that list. Feel his loving gaze stops on us, feel being captivated by his smile, and hear how He calls us. Get up, get closer to Him, and sit close, to see Him better, to hear Him better, to love Him better.