Luke 6:12-19

Lectio (Reading)

Read the passage twice and get a sense of what it is saying. Pay attention to what strikes you.

Jesus departed 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 came down with them and stood on a stretch of level ground.
A great crowd of his disciples and a large number of the people
from all Judea and Jerusalem
and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon
came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases;
and even those who were tormented by unclean spirits were cured.
Everyone in the crowd sought to touch him
because power came forth from him and healed them all.

Meditatio (Reflecting)

Slowly read the passage again, pausing on words or phrases that stands out. Take time to consider the meaning. particularly in your life.

When day came, he called his disciples to himself, and from them he chose Twelve, whom he also named Apostles:

Oratio (Responding)

Read the passage again, slowly. Consider how God has spoken to you and respond back to Him. You may want to consider how this passage is asking you to act differently.

Todays reading covers the naming of the apostles. Disciples and apostles, what is the difference? In a nutshell all followers of Jesus are disciples, but only a few are apostles. Apostles are the leaders of all of the disciples.

All things in the kingdom of heaven have some authority, although in varying degrees. Authority brings stability to communities of people. If there are disputes among people, there must be a final authority that can fairly decide between parties. Without this, then violence and division are the only possible results. In his wisdom, Jesus understood this. Some would be given authority over things, and some would be given authority over other people. But the structure of authority is as important here on earth as it is in heaven.

Two other things are really important about this reading, first that leaders were appointed from among the faithful (as discussed above), but also that they were appointed by the spiritual leader of the church, in this case Jesus. These apostles were in essence the first bishops of our church. There were 12 because of the 12 tribes of Isreal. The word apostle means “sent”, and they were sent in order to bring the good news to all corners of the world. Gods church is being built, and the new structure of leadership is being appointed.

But who is pope? Jesus is the new king (of the line of david), and before He died He chose His successor from among his apostles, and named Peter His new pope. But He also made them understand that after He is gone the apostles would have to choose a new pope from among themselves. Regardless, the point is that our church needs leadership, and there must be one ultimate leader chosen from among them…, and those leaders must be strong and faithful so that they can lead the church with dignity and justice.

When the leaders are strong and faithful the church will be the same, when the church is weak and unfaithful, the church will be the same. I fear that we are currently suffering under the later situation today. So more than ever we need to pray for our popes, bishops, priests, and deacons, and pray that they follow the holy spirit and do His will. Pray for the conversion of the weak prellots in our church from the pope, all the way down to your parish priest. Pray that they will turn from the wide path to perdition, and return to the narrow one that leads to the lord. The faith of many, depends on this conversion…

Contemplatio (Contemplating)

Take time to simply remain in the presence of God.

Resolutio (Resolving)

Make a resolution that will improve your life, your relationships, or your faith. Make it small and attainable, and do it.

Oh lord, please help me to help the priests in my community, help me to help build them up and strengthen them in their vocation. Amen.