Oct 28 2024

First reading Ephesians 2:19-22

In Christ you are no longer aliens, but citizens like us

You are no longer aliens or foreign visitors: you are citizens like all the saints, and part of God’s household. You are part of a building that has the apostles and prophets for its foundations, and Christ Jesus himself for its main cornerstone. As every structure is aligned on him, all grow into one holy temple in the Lord; and you too, in him, are being built into a house where God lives, in the Spirit.

Responsorial Psalm 18(19):2-5

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.
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.
Their message goes out through all the earth.

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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Following The Master

In today’s gospel, Jesus went to spend time with the Father in prayer. This was a normal activity in Jesus’ schedule. This time when He prayed, it was special because it was before He chose His apostles. Certainly, He needed to have a dialogue with God about them. In choosing the Twelve, He was selecting His community, those with whom He would share life and mission. He came down, together with the apostles, and started their mission with the people.

Jesus, in this gospel, tells us the three characteristics that every Christian needs to live: prayer, community life, and mission. We cannot be Christians without spending time in a relationship with Jesus, as He did with the Father. At the same time, we need to live our faith within a Christian community, growing and sharing life with one another. Lastly, ‘apostle’ means ‘being sent’, and as The Twelve, we all have the mission to bring, with our lives and words, the Good News of Christ to those we encounter.

Reflective question:
Do I fulfil the three characteristics of the Christian life?

Acknowledgment: Reflections are based on “Prayer for Living: The Word of God for Daily Prayer Year B” by Sr Maria Jose FMVD.