The heart of today’s gospel is that Jesus spent an entire night in prayer before He chose His Twelve. I know that I often overlook human Jesus and simply chalk up all His miraculous/wise/bold/kind/merciful behavior to Him being God, however, Jesus was fully human and all that He “accomplished” here on earth was done as a human. Therefore, spending a night in prayer, resting His head on the heart of God the Father, was absolutely necessary for heaven to come to earth. What happens when heaven comes to earth? Jesus calls each of us by name to join Him in the mission of love. He chose a specific Twelve, but from those Twelve all of us would also be chosen, named, anointed, brought into the family business, commissioned, given the same authority, and sent out. This immense movement came out of Jesus’ rest inside His Father’s heart. Our own resting time inside the Father’s heart is necessary if we want to find the kingdom of God in the right here and now. This kind of resting allows the churned up waters of our busy lives to settle so we can see clearly into the depths and find the heart of the matter. The heart of the matter is our calling, by name, to be Apostles. Apostles are sent to bring the rest of God into a restless world. Have you ever been in the presence of someone that just radiates peace? My hunch is that they have a healthy relationship with resting inside the heart of God. I know that I know that I know that Jesus was the truest version of that person radiating a peace that covers anxiety, or doubt, or trepidation, or skepticism. It says that His Twelve dropped what they were doing and simply started following Him. Just imagine what that actually looks like. There was no magic spell cast on these guys, no brain washing, no threat, just true and utter peace in all that Jesus said and did. Peace is what drew their hearts to Him, peace is what gave them the courage to follow, and peace is what placed each of their names on Jesus’ tongue.
Jesus is the calm in our churned up waters and He calls each one of us by our name to stop, change what we are doing, and radiate His peace as encouragement for others in their doubt, anxiety, and fear. Human Jesus teaches us how to lean into Our Father’s heart, sync up with His pulse, which beats in a very specific way for each one of us. He places the names of those called into our care on our hearts when we take the time to rest, and then He washes us in a peace that draws others to His heartbeat in ours. The world we live in is anti this kind of peace or rest, and so it is imperative that we heed human Jesus’ example today…take everything to an entire night of prayer, which is another way of saying hours of rest in union with The Father. I hope this is making sense. Human Jesus had the same exact “resources” that we do, minus sin, and so we need to contend against the world to find it, but we have been completely equipped to do so. It is well with my soul.
Feast of Saints Simon and Jude, Apostles
Lectionary: 666
Reading 1 EPH 2:19-22
Brothers and sisters:
You are no longer strangers and sojourners,
but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones
and members of the household of God,
built upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets,
with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone.
Through him the whole structure is held together
and grows into a temple sacred in the Lord;
in him you also are being built together
into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
You are no longer strangers and sojourners,
but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones
and members of the household of God,
built upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets,
with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone.
Through him the whole structure is held together
and grows into a temple sacred in the Lord;
in him you also are being built together
into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
Responsorial Psalm PS 19:2-3, 4-5
R.(5a) Their message goes out through all the earth.
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.
R.Their message goes out through all the earth.
Not a word nor a discourse
whose voice is not heard;
Through all the earth their voice resounds,
and to the ends of the world, their message.
R.Their message goes out through all the earth.
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.
R.Their message goes out through all the earth.
Not a word nor a discourse
whose voice is not heard;
Through all the earth their voice resounds,
and to the ends of the world, their message.
R.Their message goes out through all the earth.
Alleluia See Te Deum
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
We praise you, O God,
we acclaim you as Lord;
the glorious company of Apostles praise you.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
We praise you, O God,
we acclaim you as Lord;
the glorious company of Apostles praise you.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel 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.
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.
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