He chose Twelve, whom He also named apostles

Luke notes that Jesus chooses the Twelve (Apostles) after spending a night in prayer to God. Pope Benedict XVI comments that the calling of the disciples is a prayer event; it is as if they were begotten in prayer, in intimacy with the Father. The calling of the Twelve, far from being purely functional, takes on a deep theological meaning: this is the necessary starting point for understanding Jesus’ words, “So ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest” (Mt 9:38).

Today, the sending of missionaries continues. The 2012 Synod of Bishops affirms: “Evangelization in general is the everyday work of the Church. With the assistance of the Holy Spirit, this so-called ordinary evangelizing activity can be endowed with renewed vigor. New methods and new forms of expression are needed to convey to the people of today the perennial truth of Jesus Christ, forever new and the source of all newness.”

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.

SOURCE: “365 Days with the Lord 2021,” ST. PAULS, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 632895-9701; Fax 632-895-7328; E-mail: publishing@ stpauls.ph; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.