First reading 1 Corinthians 6:1-11
Do not drag your brother to a pagan for judgement
How dare one of your members take up a complaint against another in the law courts of the unjust instead of before the saints? As you know, it is the saints who are to ‘judge the world’; and if the world is to be judged by you, how can you be unfit to judge trifling cases? Since we are also to judge angels, it follows that we can judge matters of everyday life; but when you have had cases of that kind, the people you appointed to try them were not even respected in the Church. You should be ashamed: is there really not one reliable man among you to settle differences between brothers and so one brother brings a court case against another in front of unbelievers? It is bad enough for you to have lawsuits at all against one another: oughtn’t you to let yourselves be wronged, and let yourselves be cheated? But you are doing the wronging and the cheating, and to your own brothers.
You know perfectly well that people who do wrong will not inherit the kingdom of God: people of immoral lives, idolaters, adulterers, catamites, sodomites, thieves, usurers, drunkards, slanderers and swindlers will never inherit the kingdom of God. These are the sort of people some of you were once, but now you have been washed clean, and sanctified, and justified through the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and through the Spirit of our God.
Responsorial Psalm 149:1-6,9
The Lord takes delight in his people.
or
Alleluia!
Sing a new song to the Lord,
his praise in the assembly of the faithful.
Let Israel rejoice in its Maker,
let Zion’s sons exult in their king.
Let them praise his name with dancing
and make music with timbrel and harp.
For the Lord takes delight in his people.
He crowns the poor with salvation.
Let the faithful rejoice in their glory,
shout for joy and take their rest.
Let the praise of God be on their lips:
this honour is for all his faithful.
Gospel Luke 6:12-19
Jesus chooses his twelve apostles
Jesus went out into the hills to pray; and he spent the whole night in prayer to God. When day came he summoned his disciples and picked out twelve of them; he called them ‘apostles’: Simon whom he called Peter, and his brother Andrew; James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon called the Zealot, Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot who became a traitor.
He then came down with them and stopped at a piece of level ground where there was a large gathering of his disciples with a great crowd of people from all parts of Judaea and from Jerusalem and from the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon who had come to hear him and to be cured of their diseases. People tormented by unclean spirits were also cured, and everyone in the crowd was trying to touch him because power came out of him that cured them all.
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Prayer: Communion with God
In today’s gospel, before choosing whom to call to be part of His inner circle, Jesus spent time in prayer, where He entered into communion with God the Father and received the strength He needed for the task ahead. The disciples chosen by Jesus were not perfect. Peter denied Him, James and John lusted after being the first, Thomas doubted, Judas betrayed Him for thirty silver coins, etc. Was Jesus’ prayer ineffective? From prayer, Jesus discerned and chose the twelve. However, though He had great plans for them, Jesus also respected the freedom of each of His disciples. They were free to respond to His call and how they would want to live their discipleship. What was important was that Jesus lived each situation with God and was always rooted in His love and peace.
Prayer is not magical. It does not mean that when we pray, our lives will be problem-free and everything will work out. Instead, prayer leads us to communion with God. When things do not work out as we want, we live those moments with God, whose presence brings us hope, peace and courage.
Reflective question:
What does having a life of prayer mean to me?
What does having a life of prayer mean to me?
Acknowledgment: Reflections are based on “Prayer for Living: The Word of God for Daily Prayer Year C” by Sr Sandra Seow FMVD.
